UMASS/AMHERST  A 


BlEDLbODSEETEflE 


EGfr  MONEY 

now  TO  lncrea>se:  it 


W^EBB   PUBLISHING  CO., 
ST.  PAUL,     MINN. 


•}- 


LIBRARY 


OF  THE 


MASSACHUSETTS 
AGRICTTT-TTjRAL 


jr  487 

SOURCE.r.     N9 


I  \  oo  e 


This  book  may  be  kept   out 

TWO    WEEKS 

only,  and  is  subject  to  a  fine  of  TWO 
CENTS  a  day  thereafter.  It  will  be  due  on 
the  day  indicated  below. 


UE                        1 

CARD 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  Member  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/eggmoneyhowtoincOOnour 


EGG  MONEY 

HOW  TO  INCREASE  IT 


A  Book  of  Complete  and  Reliable  Information 
on  the  More   Profitable   Production    of 
Eggs  on  the  City  Lot,  the  Vil- 
lage Acre  and  the  Farm. 


BY  H.  A.  NOURSE 
and  Twenty-four  Other  Successful  Poultrymen. 


FULLY  ILLUSTRATED 


Price  Fifty  Cents 


WEBB  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

ST.  PAUL,  MINNESOTA 


1^  ^   to  , 


€: 


Copyright,    1908. 

WEBB     PUBLISHING     CO., 

St.    Paul,    Minn. 


^HHHHHHHHBH^^^HBH       '"^/'^"''^J>r^^ 

^^ 

^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^R 

p 

^V" 

1 

i^^H 

ir 

i 

^^^^^r 

lililllBf 

K. 

1 

v^^^^^r 

IP'    :i;^!^'^5t *;■■-:■         ,11 

Illlllll 

%■ 

8 

^^               •H-\^ 

||«:;:;^?-;| 

11 

-- 
~ 

K. 

^^^f  i.'^' 

•^iilllB 

^^Hl^^^'        4^H 

H^^^^^^    f^'    'flH^Hi 

,|^ 

^^^■i^Sii 

xiiiilliiiii 
liiiiiiiiii 

^^^^^^SBI 

Illli 

.   ;         -*-*^ 

iillliii 

liilil 

EGG    MONEY 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  production  of  eggs  to  be  consumed  as  food  has  been, 
iS;  and  probably  always  will  be  the  mainstay  of  the  poultry 
industry.  The  fancy  poultry  business,  or  the  breeding  of 
fowls  primarily  for  exhibition,  interests  but  a  small  per 
cent  of  the  total  number  of  poultry  keepers;  the  production 
of  poultry  meat,  as  a  separate  branch  of  the  industry,  is 
comparatively  small — the  greater  part  of  the  immense 
supply  that  finds  its  way  to  market  annually  is  furnished 
by  those  who  make  the  rearing  of  it  secondary,  or  incidental 
to  the  production  of  eggs. 

For  no  product  of  agricultural  or  animal  industry  is 
there  a  more  stable  demand,  3^ear  in,  year  out,  than  for 
this  product  of  the  domestic  hen.  Within  the  past  few 
years  the  number  marketed  and  consumed  has  increased 
tremendously;  yet  the  prices  have  increased  also,  proving 
that  the  demand  is  more  than  keeping  pace  with  the  supply, 
and  indicating  very  positively  that  the  business  will  not  be 
overdone  or  become  unprofitable,  certainly  not  during  the 
lifetime  of  the  present  generation. 

As  will  be  noted  in  following  chapters,  the  equipment 
required  is  neither  extensive  nor  costly;  no  one  breed  or 
variety  of  fowls  is  pre-eminently  superior  for  the  purpose; 
the  main  requirements  are  knowledge  of  how  to  conduct  the 
business  and  willingness  to  attend  faithfully  to  the  work. 

The  production  of  eggs  is  profitable.  No  legitimate 
department  of  agricultural  industry  offers  richer  returns 
on  equal  capital  invested  to  those  who  work  diligently  and 
understandingly.  When  prices  are  lowest,  in  the  summer 
months,  there  is  an  opportunity  for  a  fair  profit  on  the 
cost  of  production;  when  prices  reach  twenty,  thirty  and 
forty  cents  a  dozen  in  the  open  market,  as  they  do  in  early 
winter,  the  poultryman  whose  flock  is  presenting  him  a 
fair  yield  should  pocket  a  one  hundred  per  cent  profit  on 
the  cost  of  production,  as  pay  for  his  labor.      A  special 

36498 


6  EGG  MONEY 

trade  with  families,  clubs  or  ultra  highclass  hotels  some- 
times secures  a  standing  price  of  fifty  cents  or  more  per 
dozen  for  eggs  of  choice  quality  delivered  regularly  and  in 
stated  numbers. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  and  conditions,  with  the 
cost  of  foods  and  prices  of  eggs  about  the  average  for  the 
United  States,  profits  of  one  dollar  to  two  dollars  per  hen 
have  been  realized  by  those  who  make  eggs  the  main  feature 
but  do  not  neglect  to  profit  by  the  sale  of  what  may  be  called 
the  incidental  products,  as,  the  surplus  males,  the  discarded 
layers  and  the  poultry  manure.  Under  specially  favorable 
conditions  of  location,  market,  etc.,  greater  profits  have 
been  made  and  are  made  today.  The  keeper  of  a  small 
flock  usually  makes  the  greatest  profit  on  each  fowl,  for  a 
considerable  part  of  the  cost  of  maintenance  is  saved  by 
substituting  table  scraps  and  kitchen  waste  for  much  of 
the  grain,  beef  scraps,  etc.,  that  must  otherwise  be  bought 
and  paid  for.  The  farmer's  flock  can  be  fed  for  a  very  small 
money  outlay,  especially  in  summer  when  fifty  hens  will  obtain, 
most  of  their  living  if  allowed  to  range  over  the  average 
farm.  The  exclusive  poultry  keeper  finds  the  cost  of  sup- 
porting his  fowls  heaviest  for  he  almost  invariably  buys 
all  the  food  stuffs;  yet  his  profits  are  satisfactory  if  his 
methods  are  right. 

It  is  our  purpose  to  present  in  this  book  such  information 
as  may  be  followed  with  success  b}^  the  city  back-lot  poultry 
keeper  with  a  dozen  fowls,  the  village  mechanic  with  his 
half-acre  to  devote  to  the  production  of  eggs,  the  farmer 
with  his  barnyard  flock,  or  the  exclusive  poultry  raiser 
who  depends  upon  the  difference  between  income  and 
expenditure  to  pay  the  grocer  and  the  clothier  and  provide 
the  means  to  educate  his  children.  It  is  a  matter  of  record 
that  no  one  method  can  be  described  which  will  prove  ade- 
quate and  suitable  under  all  conditions  with  which  the  egg 
farmer  on  a  large  or  small  scale  may  be  confronted.  On 
that  account  we  present  the  advice  of  different  successful 
poultry  keepers,  which,  taken  as  a  whole,  thoroughly 
covers  the  field  of  information  on  the  more  profitable  pro- 
duction of  eggs. 

WEBB  PUBLISHING  CO. 


EQUIPMENT  REQUIRED. 

The  Kind  and  Amount  of  Land  Needed — Location  and  Drain= 

age — ^The  Question  of  Large  Versus  Small  Houses — Neces= 

sary  Coops,  Fixtures  and  Utensils — Comparative 

Cost  of  a  Complete  Outfit. 

By  H.  A.  Nourse. 

The  amount  of  land  required  depends,  of  course,  upon 
the  size  of  the  business  carried  on.  There  must  be  a 
certain  relative  proportion  of  the  number  of  fowls  kept  to 
the  amount  of  room  occupied,  or,  as  a  general  rule,  results 
will  not  be  satisfactory. 

Where  it  is  the  intention  to  keep  fowls  profitably  for 
eggs,  with  the  least  expenditure  of  time  in  caring  for  them, 
at  least  one  hundred  square  feet  of  ground  should  be  allowed 
each  mature  fowl  to  range  over,  when  the  weather  permits 
them  to  be  outdoors  a  large  proportion  of  the  time.  There- 
fore a  flock  of  ten  hens  would  require  approximately  one 
thousand  square  feet,  or  a  piece  of  ground  ten  feet  wide 
and  one  hundred  feet  long,  or  about  thirty-two  feet  square. 
On  city  back  lots,  where  a  less  space  must  be  used  to  accom- 
modate this  number  of  layers,  additional  labor  is  required 
to  keep  the  surroundings  sanitary,  i.  e.,  to  prevent  the 
ground  itself  from  becoming  ''tainted"  or  loaded  with 
filth  which  in  time  becomes  poison. 

On  farms  where  free  range  may  be  provided  during  the' 
greater  part  of  warm  weather,  yards  need  not  be  as  large, 
for  the  ground  has  opportunity  to  become  cleansed  through 
the  growth  of  fresh  vegetation  in  such  months  as  the  flock 
is  not  confined.  As  a  rule,  however,  one  hundred  feet  of 
yard  room  is  the  minimum  space  compatible  with  good  health 
of  the  fowls,  which  in  turn  is  necessary  for  a  high  rate  of 
production  of  eggs.. 

The  Character  of  the  Soil. 

The  exact  make-up  of  the  soil  is  not  so  material  as  is 


8  EGG  MONEY 

frequently  claimed  in  articles  of  advice  to  poultry  keepers. 
Formerly;  very  light,  sandy  soil  was  considered  most  desir- 
able because  of  the  contention  that  in  such  soil  impurities 
were  quickly  driven  below  the  surface  by  heavy  rains, 
thus  making  the  yards  self -cleansing,  as  it  were.  On  such 
ground  it  is  almost  impossible  to  maintain  a  good  sod  and 
steady  growth  of  grass,  something  of  no  little  importance 
in  a  poultry  yard.  It  is  a  fact  that  a  good  growth  of  vege- 
tation will  do  more  in  a  month  to  cleanse  the  soil  of  impuri- 
ties caused  by  the  presence  of  the  fowls  than  will  all  the 
rains  that  may  beat  upon  it  in  a  year.  For  this  reason 
soil  that  is  capable  of  producing  a  good  crop  of  grass  is  to 
be  preferred. 

The  selection  of  exceedingly  rich  soil  is  not  to  be  advised 
because  the  additional  richness,  or  fertility,  is  not  required 
for  this  purpose  and  may  be  put  to  better  use  in  other  lines 
of  agricultural  industry. 

Location  and  Drainage. 

A  good  location,  with  reference  to  securing  protection 
from  the  cold  winds  of  winter  and  making  the  most  of  the 
sun  during  the  cold  months,  as  well  as  comparatively 
^ood  drainage,  is  decidedly  important.  The  ideal  location 
is  in  an  orchard  protected  on  the  north  by  hills  or  groves, 
on  land  sloping  to  the  south  sufficiently  to  afford  good  sur- 
face   drainage. 


r' 


Inexpensive  and  Practical  Continuous  Houses  in  Use  on  a  Well-Known 
Poultry  Farm  Where  Producing  Eggs  is  the  Main  Business. 


EQUIPMENT   REQUIRED 


A  Substantially  Built  Continuous  House  Which  is  Typical  of  the  More 
Expensive  Style  of  Construction. 

Of  these  matters  good  drainage  is  the  most  important 
since  dampness  under  or  around  the  poultry  house  is  a  sure 
forerunner  of  unhealthful  conditions.  The  orchard  is 
especially  well  adapted  for  the  purposes  of  a  poultry  yard 
because  its  trees  furnish  shade  in  summer^  and  in  the  winter, 
when  the  leaves  have  fallen,  interpose  but  little  obstruc- 
tion to  the  rays  of  the  sun  which  in  that  season  are  a  valua- 
l)le  aid  to  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  egg  producers. 
Also,  the  presence  of  the  fowls  is  of  much  value  to  the  trees 
which  receive  more  nourishment  from  the  better  fertilized 
ground  and  suffer  less  from  the  attacks  of  worms,  since 
the  latter  are  consumed  in  great  measure  by  the  fowls. 

Where  it  is  a  case  of  poultry  yards  first  and  orchards 
later,  it  is  advisable  to  set  out  fruit  trees  of  whatever  variety 
does  best  in  that  location,  in  all  of  the  yards  which  are  per- 
manently located  and  also  on  the  land  which  is  intended  for 
use  in  rearing  the  young  stock  each  season.  The  person 
who  keeps  poultry  in  thickly  settled  portions  of  a  village, 
or  on  a  city  lot  or  part  thereof,  sometimes  finds  himself 
unable  to  secure  any  of  these  favorable  conditions  for  his 
flock.  Sometimes  his  location  is  so  hemmed  in  by  build- 
ings that  the  sun  strikes  it  only  at  noonday,  and  the  shade 
obtained  is  only  that  furnished  by  the  surrounding  buildings 
and  provided  by  structures  erected  for  the  purpose.      In 


10  EGG  MONEY 

such  locations  much  additional  labor  is  required  to  produce 
good  results  from  the  fowls  kept,  but  it  is  done  time  and 
time  again  and  good  egg  records  and  satisfactory  profits 
are  made. 

The  Necessary  Buildings. 

It  is  decidedly  important  that  the  house  for  the  laying 
fowls  provide  certain  conditions  favorable  to  health  and 
productiveness.  The  exact  manner  of  providing  these 
conditions  is  of  less  importance.  An  investigation  of  the 
houses  on  the  plants  of  a  dozen  poultrymen  who  make 
the  production  of  eggs  the  main  object  of  their  poultry 
business  is  likely  to  reveal  the  same  number  of  different 
constructions.  Yet  these  buildings  may  all  serve  the  pur- 
pose with  about  equal  efficiency.  The  main  points  to  be 
considered  are  provision  for  reasonable  warmth,  proper 
ventilation  and  sufficient  light.  It  makes  little  difference 
whether  comfortable,  healthful  quarters  are  obtained  by 
the  use  of  one  combination  of  building  material,  whether 
ventilation  is  provided  by  means  of  straw  lofts  or  curtain 
fronts,  or  whether  light  is  admitted  through  glass  windows 
or  cloth-filled  apertures;  that  no  method  is  entirely  superior 
in  all  respects  all  experience  proves. 

If  the  amount  of  money  invested  is  considered  in  figuring 
the  profits,  the  houses  should  be  built  as  simply  and  cheaply 
as  is  consistent  with  requirements.  It  is  a  fact  that  on  most 
successful  poultry  plants  where  the  owner  depends  upon 
the  profit  for  his  support,  as  well  as  in  many  back-lot  poultry 
houses,  the  lumber  used  is  of  the  cheapest  kind,  covered 
and  made  tight  with  tar  paper  or  some  brand  of  prepared 
roofing  and  siding.  Double-wall  houses,  that  is,  houses 
boarded  up  on  the  inside  and  outside  of  the  frame  and 
either  packed  tight  with  some  sort  of  filling  or  made  tight 
to  serve  as  a  dead  air  space,  are  rapidly  going  out  of  use. 
The  single-board  structure,  covered  on  the  outside  with 
one  or  two  thicknesses  of  prepared  fabric  manufactured 
for  the  purpose,  and  perhaps  with  lining  added  back  of 
and  above  the  roosts,  are  proving  more  satisfactory,  even 
in  the  coldest  parts  of  the  United  States  and  in  Canada. 
It  is  a  fact,  usually  easy  to  demonstrate,  that  a  double- 


EQUIPMENT  REQUIRED 


11 


wall  house  contains  an  atmosphere  with  a  perceptible  chill 
during  cold  weather  which  is  not  found  in  a  single-wall 
structure  on  the  same  plant. 

How  Much  Glass? 

A  fault  of  the  past  has  been  the  use  of  too  much  glass 
in  the  fronts  or  south  sides  of  poultry  houses;  but  people 
now  appreciate  the  fact  that  glass  will  radiate  heat  one  way 


ii^^Hiii 


Wi:^m. 


A  Poultry  House  Consisting-  Only  of  Frame  Covered  with  Tar  Paper, 
with  a  Central  and  Warmer  Roosting  Pen. 

as  fast  as  another  and  a  temperature  of  sixty  degrees  on  a 
sunny  day  when  the  fowls  are  at  work  in  the  house  scratch- 
ing in  the  litter,  followed  by  a  temperature  of  some  degrees 
below  freezing  the  following  night  when  the  fowls  are  on  the 
roost,  is  not  at  all  conducive  to  good  health  or  a  profitable 
yield.  ^  A  greater  or  less  amount  of  ordinary  cotton  cloth 
is  beginning  to  appear  in  the  place  of  glass  in  poultry  houses 


12 


EGG  MONEY 


north  and  south,  as  the  means  of  providing  more  fresh 
air  for  the  fowls  to  breathe,  thereby  enriching  their  blood 
with  the  oxygen  it  contains  and  making  them  better  able  to 
resist  cold.  Some  poultry  men  have  gone  so  far  as  to 
replace  the  entire  south  walls  of  their  poultry  houses  with 
cloth,  but  the  safer  rule  appears  to  be  to  divide  the  space 
that  would  ordinarily  be  occupied  by  glass  in  equal  parts, 
filling  one  part'  with  glass  and  one  with  cloth.  In  parts 
of  the  country  where  the  thermometer  records  very  low 
temperatures,  additional  protection  is  furnished  on  cold 
nio;hts  bv  a  cloth  curtain  in  front  of  the  roosts.      This  com- 


A  Group  of  Colony  Houses  on  a  Subui-ban  Poultry  Farm  Where  Fine 
Table  Eggs  are  Produced. 


bination  of  cloth  in  the  south  wall  and  the  curtain  in  front 
of  the  roosts  has  proved  satisfactory  in  Maine,  Minnesota 
and  Canada,  as  well  as  in  states  in  warmer  latitudes. 

Large  Versus  Small  Houses. 

The  question  of  large  or  small  houses  is  an  open  one. 
Whether  the  colony  system  or  the  continuous  house  system 
is  best  for  housing  the  laying  stock  depends  considerably 
on  the  prevailing  conditions  of  environment,  the  size  of  the 
business  to  be  conducted  and  other  factors  too  numerous  to 
mention. 


EQUIPMENT  REQUIRED 


15 


There  is  no  question  that  five  hunderd  layers  can  be 
cared  for  at  less  expense,  especially  in  winter,  if  accommo- 
dated in  a  continuous  house  than  if  divided  in  small  flocks 
and  scattered  over  a  large  area  in  colony  houses.  On 
some  large  egg  farms  where  no  fences  are  used,  the  colony 
house  plan  is  used  because  the  owners  believe  that  the 
flocks  are  more  easily  kept  separate  if  the  buildings  are 
scattered  widely.  To  the  contrary  of  this  may  be  mentioned 
one  of  the  best  known  egg  farms  in  the  United  States  where 
no  yards  are  used  and  practically  all  the  fowls  are  accommo- 


9^     ■    '  "^  '-^^'^'^M 

ILi  ILL 


A  Continuous  House  in  Which  the  Windows  of  the  Roosting  Pens  and. 
the  Fronts  of  the  Scratching  Pens  are  of  Cloth. 


dated  in  continuous  houses,  some  of  which  are  more  than 
three  hundred  feet  long.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  if 
yards  are  to  be  used  the  long  houses  enable  the  caretaker  to 
do  the  work  in  less  time,  therefore  for  less  expense,  but  the 
flocks  divided  among  colony  houses  are  less  likely  to  con- 
tract disease  one  from  the  other,  provided  a  careless  attend- 
ant allows  disease  to  gain  a  foothold. 

Coops  and  Utensils. 

The  successful  egg  farmer  of  today,  whether  he  handles 
few  or  many  fowls,  raises  his  own  stock  each  season.  Where 
one  hundred  laying  hens  are  wintered,  we  advise  the  use  of 


14  EGG  MONEY 

incubators  and  brooders.  If  a  less  number  are  handled 
we  doubt  if  their  use  is  to  be  advised  in  a  majority  of  cases. 
It  may  be  urged  that  by  the  use  of  incubators  and  brooders, 
chicks  may  be  hatched  and  reared  early  in  the  season  when 
sitting  hens  cannot  be  obtained.  But  we  must  remember 
that  in  order  to  secure  eggs  when  the  price  is  high,  in  the 
early  fall  and  winter,  we  must  have  early  hatched  fowls. 
These  in  turn  will  show  a  desire  to  incubate  in  the  early 
spring — early  enough  to  have  the  chicks  hatched  at  the 
proper  time.'  This,  of  course,  does  not  apply  in  cases  where 
the  breed  used  is  of  the  non-sitting  class. 

Brood  coops  are  needed  where  hens  do  the  rearing,  and 
roosting  coops  are  required  whatever  the  method  of  hatch- 
ing and  caring  for  the  little  chicks.  In  addition  to  the 
houses,  coops,  incubators  and  brooders,  very  little  in  the 
way  of  equipment  and  utensils  is  necessary.  Cookers  for 
heating  water  and  cooking  food,  troughs  and  shovels  for 
mixing  mashes,  and  pails  for  carrying  the  food  to  the  houses 
complete  the  equipment,  aside  from  that  in  the  houses 
themselves  which  includes  feeding  troughs,  dry  food  hoppers, 
grit  and  shell  boxes,  nests  and  water  fountains.  Shovels 
and  hoes  are  required  for  caring  for  and  cleaning  the  houses 
and  a  chest  of  tools  is  needed  for  making  repairs,  building 
coops  and  utensils. 

The  Comparative  Cost. 

With  lumber  and  other  building  materials  selling  at  the 
present  high  prices,  with  no  prospect  of  lower  prices  in  the 
future,  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  construct  a  plant  for 
egg  production  without  considerable  outlay;  but  from  the 
cost  of  erecting  barns  and  stables  for  horses  and  cows  and 
the  cost  of  erecting  brooding  houses,  incubator  cellars,  etc., 
for  broiler  plants,  it  is  evident  that  the  cost  of  making  a 
practical  poultry  plant  where  the  production  of  eggs  is  to 
be  the  main  feature  is  not  by  any  means  high.  There  is 
no  one  thing  required  for  the  business  that  is  costly  to  pur- 
chase or  construct  and  the  chief  expense  of  producing  eggs 
is  in  the  labor  of  caring  for  the  fowls  and  the  feed  required. 


SELECTING  THE  STOCK. 

Strength,  Vigor,  Health  and  Increased  Power  of  Production 

are  More  Important  Than  Any  Particular  Breed  or  Varie= 

ty — Standard  Bred  Fowls  are  Best  on  Account  of 

Greater  Uniformity  in  Production  and  Product. 

By  H.  A.  Nourse. 

The  question,  ''What  fowls  are  the  best  layers?"  is 
frequently  asked  and  the  answer  varies  considerably.  If 
the  reply  is  made  by  one  who  has  bred  a  certain  variety  of 
the  American  class  from  which  he  has  secured  a  good  egg 
yield,  he  recommends  that  variety.  A  man  who  has  bred 
Leghorns  or  ]\linorcas  with  the  same  result  advises  the 
inquirer  to  select  a  variety  of  those  breeds.  A  breeder 
of  Langshans  or  perhaps  one  who  has  secured  a  heavy  yield 
from  a  flock  of  Light  Brahmas  will  be  equally  solicitous 
that  the  would-be  poultry  keeper  adopt  Langshans  or  Brah- 
mas, as  the  case  may  be. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is  this:  the  Langshans  may 
produce  more  eggs  for  a  certain  breeder  than  a  flock  of  Leg- 
horns upon  which  he  lavishes  the  same  good  care;  again  a 
flock  of  White  Faced  Black  Spanish  may  outstrip  all  its 
competitors  in  a  certain  man's  yards  and  be  selected  as 
the  egg  producer  par  excellence  by  that  particular  breeder. 
This  is  done  with  good  reason;  the  fowls  that  produce  the 
most  eggs  for  the  same  amount  of  food  and  care  are  the  most 
profitable  fowls  to  keep,  but  the  fact  that  one  flock  of  a 
certain  variet}^  produced  more  eggs  than  a  certain  equal 
number  of  another  variety  of  the  same  breed  or  a  variety 
of  another  breed,  is  not  positive  proof  that  all  fowls  of  the 
first  mentioned  variety  will  excel  all  fowls  of  the  competing 
varieties.  It  is  the  breeding  that  makes  the  layer  and 
not  the  breed  or  variety.  Careful  selection  of  the  best 
layers  and  intelligent  breeding  of  the  same  for  several  genera- 


16  EGG  MONEY 

tions,  together  with  proper  care  and  feeding,  will  build  up 
a  strain  of  heavy  egg  producers  in  any  variety. 

The  fact  that  the  Leghorn  breed  is  regarded  as  typical 
of  greater  egg  production  is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  since 
its  body  is  too  small  to  be  profitable  for  the  production  of 
meat;  the  tendency  of  its  breeders  has  been  to  improve  its 
usefulness  for  egg  production.  Its  nervous,  energetic 
disposition  has  made  it  a  good  forager  and  a  constant  exer- 
ciser, which   in  turn    have  given  it  stamina  and  health. 

Characteristics  of  the  Heavy  Layer. 

First  of  all,  the  productive  hen  must  have  strength  and 
health.  Without  these  she  cannot  stand  the  physical  tax 
that  accompanies  the  production  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
to  two  hundred  eggs  per  annum.  This  strength  and  health 
come  only  as  the  legacy  of  vigorous  ancestors. 

Again,  the  heavy  layer  mast  be  active  and  energetic; 
must  be  possessed  of  a  considerable  amount  of  nervous, 
energy,  the  force  that  keeps  her  moving  in  almost  a  constant 
search  for  food,  therefore  preventing  a  sluggish  circulation 
of  blood  and  at  the  same  time  improving  its  quality  by  the 
added  number  of  red  corpuscles  that  are  obtained  from  the 
oxygen  of  the  air  that  is  more  rapidly  drawn  from  the  lungs. 
These  attributes  alone,  however,  will  not  produce  an  egg 
yield  of  over  average  number.  The  latter  is  obtained 
only  from  fowls  which  have  been  bred  for  heavy  layers  as 
we  have  before  stated,  and  so  fed  and  cared  for  that  the 
strain  of  laying  has  not  weakened  their  vitality,  and  which 
have  transmitted  to  their  offspring  that  activity  of  the  organs 
of  reproduction  which  make  the  two  hundred  egg  hen 
possible. 

Standard=Bred  Fowls  are  Best. 

The  old  idea  that  the  mongrel  hen  was  the  healthiest 
hen  and  the  best  layer  and  that  a  mixture  of  different  breeds 
was  required  for  vigor  is  fast  fading  away.  The  properly 
handled  standard-bred  fowl  is  not  only  a  better  layer,  but 
is  capable  of  being  handled  by  man  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
produce  more  uniform  results. 

Not  only  is  it  possible  to  secure  a  greater  percentage  of 


SELECTING  THE   STOCK  17 

high-power  producers  from  standard-bred  stock,  but  the 
product  itself  is  more  uniform  and  therefore  more  salable 
and  capable  of  returning  a  higher  price  in  discriminating 
markets.  The  fact  that  some  trials  with  standard  breeds 
have  proved  unsatisfactory,  either  from  lack  of  productive- 
ness or  lack  of  health  and  vitalit}^  or  both,  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  particular  strain  from  which  the  fowls  sprung 
was  bred  with  a  view  to  producing  certain  color  and  shape 
characteristics  without  proper  attention  being  given  to  the 
basic  principles  of  breeding.  The  intelligent  breeder  looks 
well  to  the  vitality  of  his  stock, .the  careless  or  ignorant  poul- 
try man  does  not,  and  the  latter  is  the  worst  enehiy  of  stand- 
ard-bred poultry.^  >'^  .^j-c^^:. 'V 

Consider  the  Market. 

There  is,  however,  one  consideration  that  may  not  be 
safely  overlooked,  and  that  is  the  color  of  the  shell  preferred 
in  the  market  to  which  the  prospective  egg  farmer  desires 
to  cater.  In  a  majority  of  markets  in  the  United  States 
the  discriminating  trade  is  in  favor  of  an  egg  with  a  dark 
brown  shell,  while  in  other  markets,  though  they  are  less 
in  number,  an  egg  with  a  white  shell  is  preferred.  The 
finest  trade  will  pay  slighth^  more  for  the  tint  of  shell  that 
pleases;  therefore,  if  the  poult ryman  is  to  cater  to  the  fine 
trade  in  New  York  City,  a  breed  which  produces  white 
shelled  eggs,  for  example  Leghorns  and  Minorcas,  should, 
perhaps,  be  given  the  preference,  provided,  of  course,  not 
much  attention  is  to  be  given  to  producing  poultry  meat 
in  connection  with  the  egg  business.  Where  a  dark  shell; 
is  preferred,  Boston  for  example,  varieties  of  the  American 
or  Asiatic  classes,  namely:  Plymouth  Rocks,  Wyandottes, 
Rhode  Island  Reds,  Langshans,  Brahmas  and  Cochins, 
should  be  given  the  preference.  But  when  every  point  is 
considered,  the  laying-bred  fowl  has  the  call  rather  than  that 
of  any  particular  breed  or  variety. 


HATCHING  AND  REARING, 


The  Importance  of  Adopting  Methods  of  Hatching  and  Rearing 
Which  Tend  to  Produce  the  Highest  Degree  of  Vitality- 
Uniform  Development  at  a  Normal  Rate  is  Better 
Than  a  Rapid  Growth. 

By  Ho  A.  Nourse. 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  go  into  the  details  of  operating 
incubators,  caring  for  sitting  hens,  operating  brooders, 
•etc.,  because  definite  instructions  for  all  these  things  arc 
more  fitly  the  subject  for  another  volume.  There  are, 
nevertheless,  certain  features  in  the  hatching  and  rearing 
of  chicks  intended  for  the  purposes  of  an  egg  farm  which 
•differ  materially  from  those  affecting  the  production  of 
stock  destined  to  the  market.  In  the  latter  instance  the 
business  of  the  poultry  keeper  is  to  grow  the  youngsters 
to  marketable  age  in  the  shortest  possible  time  and  to  place 
upon  their  frames  as  much  soft  meat  as  possible,  together 
with  a  reasonable  amount  of  fat.  Chicks  started  in  life 
in  this  manner  never  possess  the  strength  and  stamina 
required  for  the  best  service  as  profit  makers  in  other  lines; 
they  never  recover  from  the  effects  of  the  unnatural  condi- 
tions of  the  first  weeks  or  months  of  their  lives,  whatever 
the  environment,  care  and  food  may  be  later. 

The  future  egg  producer  should  make  its  entrance  in 
the  world  and  pass  its  early  life  under  such  conditions  as 
promote  perfectly  normal  growth,  or  the  growth  that  nature 
intended  it  should  make  under  the  most  favorable  condi- 
tions. We  have  mentioned  in  previous  chapters  the  neces- 
sity of  strength  in  parent  stock  and  the  further  necessity 
of  so  conserving  that  strength  that  it  will  be  transmitted 
to  the  chick.  A  chick  from  such  stock,  properly  incubated, 
begins  life  under  favorable  auspices  and  requires  intelli- 
gent care  only  to  develop  within  it  the  vitality  of  its  parent. 

Heavy  feeding  of   overnutritious  foods,  too  long  con- 


20  EGG  MONEY 

finement  in  overheated  brooder  houses  and  lack  of  sufficient 
exercise  in  pure  air  have  seldom  produced  a  developed  chick 
with  the  constitution  and  vigor  required  tc  make  it  a  first 
rank  egg  producer. 

Conditions  That  Affect  the  Hatch. 

Oftentimes  a  lack  of  success  in  rearing  the  chicks  is 
c.ttributed  to  improper  brooding  or  feeding  when  the  real 
fault  lies  in  the  manner  of  incubating.  When  the  hatching 
is  done  by  healthy  hens  which  perform  their  work  faith- 
fully, the  chicks,  as  a  rule,  come  from  the  shell  strong  and 
vigorous.  This  is  due  in  large  measure  to  the  fact  that  the 
sitting  hen  is  almost  invariably  surrounded  by  r.n  atmos- 
phere pretty  near  as  pure  as  the  outdoor  air.  This  air, 
circulating  constantly  through  her  plumage,  :;pplies  to 
the  eggs  that  amount  of  oxygen  which  is  highly  important 
to  a  successful  hatch.  Incubators  are  frequently  operated 
in  cellars,  rooms  above  ground  or  in  especially  constructed 
incubator  houses,  where  fresh  air  is  pretty  nearly  excluded 
in  an  endeavor  to  maintain  a  reasonably  constant  tem- 
perature, or,  in  the  early  season,  a  fair  degree  of  warmth. 
However  well  an  incubator  may  operate  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, it  brings  chicks  out  of  the  shell  in  no  condition 
to  take  up  the  business  of  proper  growth  and  development. 
A  chick  not  well  hatched  is  never  a  profit-maker. 

Healthful  Brooding. 

Occasionally  a  hen  avoids  the  best  laid  plans  of  her 
owner  and  makes  a  nest  for  herself  in  a  brush  pile  in  a  secluded 
corner  of  the  farm  or  perhaps  under  the  floor  of  a  poultry 
house,  lays  there  a  sitting  of  eggs  and  in  due  time  brings 
off  a  flock  of  chicks.  If  she  is  not  molested  by  her  owner, 
by  four  footed  enemies  or  by  hawks  or  crows,  in  nine  chances 
out  of  ten  she  will  raise  a  large  per  cent  of  the  chicks  she 
takes  from  the  nest,  without  brood  coop  or  other  apparatus 
of  later  day  poultry  keeping  and  ofttimes  without  any  food 
from  her  owner's  bins.  Chicks  so  raised  are  almost  invaria- 
bly strong.  Their  growth  is  not  so  rapid  as  is  possible  under 
different  conditions,  but  their  development  is  thoroughly 
normal  and  of  the  kind  that  accompanies  health  and  vigor. 


HATCHING  AND  REARING  21 

The  reason  for  this  is  largely  the  exercise  they  take  dur- 
ing the  day  in  the  open  air  and  the  freedom  they  enjoy 
from  stuffy,  poorly  ventilated  and  perhaps  overheated 
coops  or  brooders  at  night.  If  it  were  possible  to  reproduce 
these  conditions,  chicks  in  brooders  or  with  hens  in  brood 
coops  would  be  equally  strong  and  fit  for  their  life  work. 
But  in  actual  practice  we  find  conditions  much  different  in  a 
majority  of  cases.  We  find  brooders  and  brooder  houses 
to  which  the  pure  air  of  nature  is  denied  adixiittance  or  in 
which  so  much  filth  exists  that  the  air  ic  quickly  contami- 
nated and  loses  its  power  to  sustain  the  chick;  wo  find  chicks 
crowding  at  night  in  brooders  and  allowed  to  overheat  by 
careless  operators;  we  find  hens  with  broods  confined  in 
coops  which  offer  excellent  protection  from  wind  and  rain 
but  which  are  closed  tightly  at  night,  thereby  preventing 
proper  ventilation  and  in  summer  time  raising  the  tempera- 
ture to  a  high  degree.  Reverse  these  conditions  and  we 
approach  the  conditions  afforded  by  the  hen  of  the  stolen 
nest  which  reared  her  brood  in  the  open  air  and  produced 
chicks  with  strong  constitutions. 

Foods  and  Feeding. 

The  manner  of  feeding  and  caring  for  the  chicks  has 
fully  as  much  to  do  with  their  growth  and  development 
as  the  exact  make-up  of  the  ration.  A  scientific  feeder 
can  figure  out  on  paper  a  perfectly  balanced  ration  contain- 
ing exactly  the  right  proportion  of  protein  and  carbohy- 
drates, together  with  mineral  matter,  or  ash,  for  the  bony 
structure  of  the  bird.  This  ration  may  be  fed  at  regular 
intervals  and  yet  fail  to  produce  proper  growth,  or  indeed 
to  prevent  a  high  death  rate.  The  failure  of  such  a  ration 
to  produce  good  results  is  not  the  fault  of  the  chemist  that 
compounded  it  or  the  ration  itself,  but  is  because  the  con- 
ditions surrounding  the  chicks  are  such  that  they  cannot 
make  proper  use  of  it  after  they  consume  it. 

Good  food  is  useful  only  when  it  is  properly  assimilated 
and  becomes  a  part  of  the  blood,  flesh  and  bone  of  the  living 
body  and  this  assimilation  is  possible  only  when  the  diges- 
tive organs  are  healthy.  A  well-ordered  digestive  apparatus 
in  such  cases  depends  almost  solely  upon  the  proper  warmth. 


22 


EGG  MONEY 


sufficient  exercise  and  an  abundance  of  pure  air  for  the 
chick.  That  is  why  the  chick  brought  up  by  the  mother 
hen  on  the  range  seldom  has  digestive  troubles. 

Formerly  the  poultry  keeper  mixed  various  mashes  with, 
milk  or  water,  or  baked  a  johnny  cake  of  corn  meal  and  bran, 
for  the  broods  during  their  younger  days.  In  late  years 
this  method  of  feeding  has  given  way  to  the  use  of  prepared 
chick  foods  which  are  made  of  various  grains  and  seeds, 
with  some  meat  food  added,  and  which  are  fed  dry.  These 
foods  produce  excellent  results  and  this  manner  of  feeding 
appears  to  be  nearer  nature. 

When  the  chicks  are  weaned,  that  is,  when  they  graduate 
from  the  care  of  the  mother  hen  or  are  separated  from  the 
?^rooder,  they  begin  their  real  period  of  growth  and  develop- 
ment and  require  larger  quarters  and  more  extensive  range, 
The  poultry  keeper  who  can  scatter  his  weaned  broods  in 
flocks  of  twenty-five,  in  colony  houses,  and  allow  them  to 
run  over  the  broad  acres  of  a  farm  is  fortunate,  for  under 
such  conditions  the  chicks  attain  that  development  which  is 
required  for  best  results  and  do  it  at  the  lowest  cost  for  food 
and  care. 

He  who  must  keep  his  chicks  within  yards  must  see  to  it 
^hat  these  yards  are  clean  and  that  special  inducements  to- 
exercise  are  furnished  the  youngsters.  In  most  cases  this 
must  be  done  by  feeding  them  the  grain  part  of  their  bill 
of  fare  in  a  deep  litter  from  which  they  must  scratch  it  out. 
To  sum  up,  the  factors  absolutely  necessary  for  the  produc- 
tion of  the  profit  makers  are:  correct  incubation,  correct 
brooding,  correct  feeding  and  a  clean,  healthful  environment 
from  the  time  of  exclusion  from  the  shell. 


REARING  HEAVY  LAYERS. 

Methods  of  Selecting  the  Eggs  and  Hatching  and  Rearing 

the  Record    Layers — Feeding   for   Eggs — 

Improving  the  Flock. 


By  L.  B.  Rich. 

Have  your  chickens  laid  well  during  the  winter?  If 
not,  now  is  the  time  to  figure  on  raising  stock  that  will  lay 
next  winter.  It  takes  no  more  time  nor  does  it  cost  any 
more  money  to  raise  winter  layers  than  it  does  those  that 
lay  only  in  spring  and  summer. 

Select  some  standard  breed,  one  that  you  like,  and  then 
stick  to  it.  You  will  find  the  varieties  of  the  American 
class,  Wyandottes,  Rocks,  or  Rhode  Island  Reds,  to  be 
good    money    makers. 

Like  begets  like — so  don't  expect  a  hen  that  lays  only 
in  the  spring  and  summer  to  breed  daughters  that  will 
be  winter  layers,  for  she  won't  do  it.  Make  certain  of  one 
thing  first,  that  the  eggs  you  incubate  in  spring  came 
from  hens  that  as  pullets  laid  in  the  winter  and  you  will 
have  made  a  good  beginning  towards  obtaining  winter 
eggs. 

Hatch  in  April. 

Hatch  your  chicks  during  April  and  up  to  May  15th. 
You  will  find  an  incubator  is  the  best  investment  you  can 
make  to  accomplish  this.  When  the  chicks  are  hatched, 
don't  crowd  them  into  a  small  stuffy  brooder  to  suffocate 
for  want  of  fresh  air;  build  a  colony  house  6  x  10  feet  in 
size,  5  feet  high  in  the  back  and  7  feet  in  front;  put  an  indoor 
brooder  in  it  and  you  have  an  outfit  that  will  pay  for  itself 
with  every  hatch. 

Feeding  the  Chicks. 

Cover  the  floor  of  the  house  with  chaff  from  under  the 
hay  loft.      Scatter  dry   chick  food — wheat,   cracked   corn, 


24 


EGG  MONEY 


millet,  sorghum  seed  or  any  small  grains  in  this  litter 
and  let  them  scratch  it  out.  There  are  lots  of  days  in  April 
that  you  can't  let  the  chicks  out  in  the  wet;  on  those  days 
cut  pieces  of  sod  two  or  three  feet  square  and  put  one  in 
each  colony  house  for  the  chicks  to  work  on. 

At  the  start  get  a  roll  of  two  foot  poultry  wire  and 
make  a  small  yard  in  front  of  the  colony  house;  enlarge 
this  yard  as  the  chicks  grow  and  when  they  are  six  weeks 
old  remove  it  entirely.  The  chicks  will  hustle  all  day  and 
return  to  the  house  at  night.  When  the  chicks  are  six 
weeks  old,  feed  oats,  whole  oats,  hulls  and  all.  If  they 
don't  take  to  them,  starve  them  to  it.  Oats  is  one  of  the 
best  foods  on  the  farm  for  poultry. 

Market  the  Cockerels  Early. 

As  soon  as  the  cockerels  weigh  two  pounds  each,  ship 
them  to  market  and  give  the  pullets  their  room.  Keep 
plenty  of  clean  straw  for  the  chicks  to  sleep  on;  don't  let 


One  of  the  Colony  Poultry  Houses  Designed  by  L.  B.   1  i  h,   D    jcribed 
in  his  Article,  "Rearing  Heavy  Layers." 


REARING  HEAVY  LAYERS 


25 


A  Group  of  Early  Laying  Pullets  which  were  Reared  in   the   Manner 
Described  by  L.  B.  Rich. 

them  go  on  to  a  roost  before  they  are  four  or  five  months 
old.  Let  them  hustle  on  the  farm  all  day  and  fill  them  full 
of  grain  at  night.  Keep  them  growing  every  day  and  when 
they  are  six  months  old,  they  should  be  talking  about  lay- 
ing and  then  is  your  time  to  do  some  fine  work. 

People  used  to  think  that  if  they  gave  the  chicks  summer 
conditions  in  the  winter,  they  would  get  winter  eggs  and 
the  only  condition  they  thought  of  was  heat.  Now,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  heat  cuts  but  a  very  small  figure  in  the 
production  of  winter  eggs.  Fresh,  dry  air  and  proper  feed 
and  care  are  of  much  more  importance. 

Feeding  for  Eggs. 

All  summer  the  chicks  have  had  all  the  green  grass  and 
clover  they  wanted,  with  bugs  galore,  for  animal  food, 
and  they  must  have  this  same  material  in  some  form  dur- 
ing the  winter  to  produce  the  eggs.  Early  in  the  fall 
fix  a  box  or  hopper  to  contain  dry  bran  and  beef  scraps, 
mixed  half  and  half  by  measure,  where  they  can  get  all 
they  want.  Throw  some  clover  hay  to  them,  or,  better, 
fix  a  rack  to  hold  it  and  keep  the  rack  full;  they  will  eat 
all  but  the  wood.  Drive  some  nails  into  the  sides  of  your 
pens,  and  each  day  jab  some  r>.abbage,  mangels,  beets  or 


26 


EGG  MONEY 


any  roots  you  can  get  on  them  and  watch  the  hens  eat,- 
Keep  plenty  of  straw  on  the  floors  for  them  to  work  in  and 
scatter  all  the  grain  they  will  eat  in  the  straw  and  let  them 
work  it  out.  Wheat,  oats,  barley,  corn  and  .speltz  are  all 
good  grains  to  feed;  give  them  a  variety  and  don't  be  afraid 
of  overfeeding  if  they  have  to  work  for  it.  Above  all,, 
don't  be  afraid  to  give  them  plenty  of  fresh  air. 

To  Improve  the  Flock. 

In  the  fall,  as  the  pullets  begin  laying,  you  will  find 
some  six  weeks  difference  between  the  time  the  first  one 
starts  and  the  last  one  from  the  same  hatch.  Leg-band 
those  first  layers  and  the  next  year  breed  from  them.  Fol- 
low this  up  and  in  a  few  years  you  will  have  a  strain  of  fowls 
that  you  can  be  assured  will  lay  in  the  fall  and  winter. 
Don't  get  the  idea  that  if  they  lay  in  winter  they  won't 
lay  in  the  spring,  for  you  will  find  that  the  hen  that  lays 
the  most  eggs  in  the  winter  will  also  lay  the  most  during 
March,  April  and  May. 

Eggs  in  winter  depend  on  breeding,  raising,  feeding,  and 
housing.  You  can  make  a  straw  shed,  muslin  the  front, 
and  get  just  as  many  eggs  as  though  you  had  a  $1,000.00 
hen  house. 


CARE  OF  THE  FUTURE  LAYERS. 


A  Description  of  the  Care  and  Foods  Required  to  Produce 

Rapid  and  Uniform  Development  in  the  Prospective  Egg 

Producers — the  Value  of  Range  and  Fresh  Air — 

the   Preferred    St}  les  of    Roosting   Coops — the 

Foods    to     Feed — Changing    to    Winter 

Quarters. 

By  H.  A.  Nourse. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  best  egg  yields  can  be 
secured  from  pnllets  and  the  problem  of  caring  for  them, 
in  order  to  produce  early  and  continued  laying,  is  an  im- 
portant one.  The  highest  prices  for  this  product  are  ob- 
tained during  the  fall  and  early  winter,  and  the  poultry- 
man's  income  is  increased  or  diminished  in  many  cases 
by  the  number  of  eggs  he  secures  in  November,  December 
and  January.  While  foods  play  an  important  part  in  the 
development  of  the  pullets,  the  environment  and  roosting 
accommodations  are  deserving  of  more  than  passing  no- 
tice. 

The  Proper  Environment. 

Although  very  good  pullets  can  be  raised  in  limited 
quarters,  free  range  is  desirable,  both  because  it  is  con- 
ducive to  healthy,  vigorous  growth  and  because  it  reduces 
appreciably  the  labor  of  caring  for  the  flock.  Up  to  the 
time  when  the  ground  freezes,  the  birds  can  find  consider- 
able nourishment,  both  animal  and  vegetable,  which  ac- 
ceptably fills  the  place  of  much  that  must  otherwise  be 
bought  and  paid  for.  Bugs  and  worms,  together  with  dry 
berries  and  green  vegetable  growths  fill  a  want  that  can- 
not be  as  well  supplied  by  the  feeder. 

Exercise  plays  an  important  part  in  the  well-being  of 
all  poultry  and  the  growing  stock  in  particular.     Any  de- 


28  EGG  MONEY 

vice  or  method  intended  to  promote  exercise  in  flocks  con- 
fined in  yards  is  not  nearly  so  effective  as  the  opportunity 
to  run  free  over  the  broad  acres  of  the  farm,  or  a  tract 
of  considerable  area  on  the  plant  of  limited  acreage.  It 
is  the  vigorous  pullet  that  lays  the  eggs  and  the  exercising 
pullet  is  the  most  vigorous. 

Healthful  Accommodations. 

In  most  latitudes  where  the  poultry  business  is  suc- 
cessfully carried  on,  the  weather  continues  comfortable 
during  the  month  of  October  and  the  maturing  pullets  are 
better  off  in  the  fields,  with  roosting  coops  in  which  to 
find  shelter  and  protection  at  night,  than  they  are  in  the 
permanent  houses  and  yards.  Fresh  air  is  as  necessary 
during  the  night  as  it  is  in  the  daytime,  and  coops  so  con- 
structed as  to  admit  plenty  of  it,  and  at  the  same  time 
protect  the  flock  from  drafts,  are  to  be  desired.  The  writ- 
er prefers  coops  about  3x6  feet  on  the  ground,  3  feet  high 
at  the  rear  and  5  feet  in  front.  These  require  but  little 
framing  and  may  be  covered  with  tongued  and  grooved 
lumber  with  the  roofs  covered  with  some  waterproof 
fabric  to  keep  them  dry.  The  north  side  and  both  ends 
should  be  tightly  boarded;  but  the  south  side  may  be 
covered  with  three-inch  slats,  placed  two  inches  apart. 
If  there  is  danger  from  animals,  the  front  may  be  cov- 
ered with  inch  mesh  wire  netting  outside  the  slats  or  the 
slats  may  be  dispensed  with  entirely  and  the  wire  sup- 
ported by  an  occasional  upright.  Each  coop  should  be 
provided  with  a  door  of  convenient  size  which  will  be  most 
convenient  if  placed  in  the  center  of  the  front.  The  door 
should  not  be  solid,  but  made  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
remainder  of  the  front  side. 

As  cold  weather  approaches  and  the  nights  become 
chilly,  a  curtain  of  light  cotton  cloth,  or  of  burlap,  may  be 
rigged  to  cover  the  front  of  the  coop  when  necessary  to 
protect  the  inmates  from  cold  winds  or  from  storms. 

Crowding  is  Dangerous. 

One  of  the  principal  dangers  to  flocks  of  maturing 
chicks  is  from  crowding.  Frequently  the  broods  are  al- 
lowed to  remain  in  the  small   coops  in   which  they   were 


CARE  OF  FUTURE  LAYERS 


29 


placed  when  hatched  until  they  are  removed  to  winter 
quarters.  Crowding  into  these  coops  at  night,  they  be- 
come overheated  and  lose  more  strength  during  the  hours 
when  they  are  supposed  to  rest  than  they  gain  in  the  day- 
time.     Food   furnished   a    flock    so    housed    produces   but 


A  Slat  Front  Roosting  Coop  with  a  Door  in  the  Middle  of  the  Front, 
Recommended  as  Summer  Quarters  for  Growing  Pullets. 


indifferent   results   and   the   birds   would   be   far   healthier 
were  they  allowed  to  roost  in  trees.  ^ 

We  not  infrequently  find  a  large  flock  crowded  into  a 
roosting  coop  which  is  tightly  built  and  of  which  the  doors 
and  windows,  either  from  a  mistaken  idea  of  the  protec- 
tion required  against  the  elements  or  in  order  to  make 
them  safe  against  intrusions  of  animals,  are  tightly  shut 
every  night.  Before  the  ^^oungsters  have  been  confined 
in  such  a  place  half  an  hour,  the  air  within  is  wholly  unfit 


30  EGG  MONEY 

to  breathe  and  its  condition  in  the  morning  is  best  de- 
scribed as  filthy.  On  opening  such  a  coop  to  Hberate  the 
chicks  in  the  morning,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  confined 
air  is  heated  almost  to  the  suffocating  point  and  laden 
with  impurities.  The  result  of  such  housing  is  lowered 
Adtality,  accompanied  by  colds  and  a  strong  tendency  to- 
ward roup.  To  expect  paying  results  from  such  flocks  is 
scarcely  reasonable.  It  pays  to  furnish  healthful  condi- 
tions. 

We  believe  it  is  the  opinion  of  most  poultrymen  who  de- 
pend upon  the  production  of  market  eggs  for  all,  or  a  sub- 
stantial part,  of  their  income  that  the  sooner  after  Novem- 
ber first  the  developed  and  nearly  developed  pullets  are 
placed  in  the  quarters  that  they  will  occupy  during  the  win- 
ter, the  better  will  be  the  results  obtained.  The  WTiter's 
experience  is  closely  in  line  with  the  above,  except  with  re- 
spect to  localities  where  the  weather  continues  warm  and 
the  pullets  have  to  be  confined  to  the  houses,  or  houses  and 
small  yards,  if  placed  in  winter  quarters.  In  latitudes 
where  the  ground  freezes,  cold  winds  blow,  hard  rains  are 
probable  and  snow  possible,  November  first  is  not  too  early 
to  move  the  profit  makers  from  the  coops  to  permanent 
bouses. 

Housing  the  Egg  Producers. 

The  main  reasons  for  putting  the  pullets  in  their  winter 
quarters  are:  to  accustom  them  to  the  new  environment 
before  the  majority  of  them  begin  laying  in  order  that  egg 
production  need  not  be  interrupted  by  the  excitement  inci- 
dent to  a  change  later;  to  better  provide  shelter  from  se- 
vere weather;  and  to  furnish  more  room  per  bird,  under 
cover,  where  each  can  obtain  more  exercise  and  have  a 
better  chance  to  receive  food  and  water,  during  stormy 
days  when  they  must  be  confined  to  the  buildings. 

To  take  pullets  from  free  range  and' place  them  in  quar- 
ters where  they  must  limit  their  wanderings  to  small  yards 
is  too  great  a  change,  a  fact  that  will  be  apparent  to  any 
poultryman  who  will  observe  a  flock  carefully  when  such  a 
change  is  made.  The  change  of  ration  from  that  contain- 
ing nmch  of  nature's  food,  found  in  the  fields,  to  one  whol- 
ly prepared  by  the  most  careful  and  intelligent  feeder,  af- 
fects the  dio;estion  more  or  less. 


CARE  OF  FUTURE  LAYERS.  31 

For  these  reasons  the  pullets  should  be  given  their  lib- 
erty, after  they  are  accustomed  to  the  houses,  every  day 
when  the  weather  is  fair,  unless  the  ground  is  covered 
with  snow.  Mere  cold  will  not  hurt  them,  if  the  ground  is 
bare,  for  if  accustomed  to  the  houses  they  will  seek  shelter 
in  them  if  uncomfortable  outside.  If  not  ''house-broken" 
it  may  be  necessary  to  call  or  drive  them  in  if  the  temper- 
ature falls  suddenly  or  a  storm  comes  up. 

Very  likely  the  weather  will  be  such  that  the  pullets  can 
have  free  range,  with  comfort  to  themselves  and  satisfac- 
tion to  their  owners,  two-thirds  of  the  days  before  Decem- 
ber first. 

Do  Not  Close  the  Houses. 

Too  many  make  the  mistake  of  closing  their  houses  at 
night  when  the  pullets  are  introduced,  and  a  few  fail  to 
open  the  windows  and  doors  during  the  day. 

There  are  two  things  which  are  essential  to  the  success 
of  any  method  intended  for  the  prevention  of  colds — they 
are,  freedom  from  drafts  and  a  plentiful  supply  of  fresh, 
pure  air.  A  supply  of  good  air  can  be  obtained  without 
danger  from  drafts  if  the  north  side,  ends  and  roof  of  the 
house  are  tightly  built  and  fresh  air  is  admitted  through 
the  south  side.  In  buildings  that  are  narrower  than  they 
should  be  for  economy  or  convenience,  a  strong  south  wind 
may  occasionally  blow  against  the  fowls  on  the  roosts,  or 
storms  may  beat  in  through  open  windows.  Either  will 
cause  trouble  but  may  be  prevented  by  placing  a  frame,  filled 
with  light  cotton  cloth  or  burlap,  in  the  spaces  made  by 
opening  the  windows.  Air  will  pass  through  this  material, 
but  drafts  will  not. 

Ventilate  Freely. 

Roosts  which  are  not  located  at  the  back  of  the  pen,  or 
farthest  from  the  windows,  are  not  in  the  right  place  and 
should  be  changed.  Close  the  doors  at  night  and  leave  the 
windows  open  more  or  less  according  to  the  weather,  but 
be  sure  that  the  minimum  of  open  space  is  sufficient  to 
make  the  house  practically  odorless.  During  the  bright 
days  throw  windows  and  doors  wide  open;  let  in  all  the 


32  EGG  MONEY 

fresh  air  and  sunlight  possible,  for  they  are  great  purifiers 
and  cost  nothing. 

Foods  and  Feeding. 

If  the  pullets  are  out  in  the  fields  every  day  when  the 
weather  permits,  feeding  is  a  simple  problem.  But  if  they 
must  be  confined  in  houses  an  effort  must  be  made  to  sup- 
ply that  part  of  their  food  which  they  would  obtain  in  the 
fields,  if  allowed  their  liberty,  and  to  supply  it  in  a  similar 
form  so  far  as  possible. 

For  flocks  enjoying  free  range,  a  liberal  supply  of  the 
principal  grains,  with  fresh  water  daily,  is  all  that  is  re- 
quired. Corn,  wheat,  and  oats  fed  alternately,  one  in  the 
morning,  one  at  mid-day,  and  one  toward  evening,  will  pro= 
duce  good  results  if  a  dish  of  beef  scraps  is  constantly  in 
reach  of  the  flock  from  which  they  can  secure  what  ani- 
mal food  they  need  to  bring  that  obtained  by  foraging  up 
to  the  requirements  of  their  systems. 

Some  breeders  prefer  to  feed  a  damp  mash  at  least  once 
each  day.  The  writer  is  inclined  to  favor  feeding  this  mix- 
ture in  the  morning  and  has  found  that  two  parts  of  corn- 
meal,  three  of  bran  and  sufficient  beef  scraps  to  make  10 
per  cent  of  the  mash  is  a  simple  and  effective  combination. 
If  milk  can  be  obtained  "^o  mix  this  mash  it  is  more  palat- 
able and  produces  better  results.  When  mash  is  fed  the 
dish  of  beef  scraps  mentioned  above,  ma}^  be  dispensed 
with,  but  meat  must  be  provided  in  some  manner  if  the  best 


A  Colony  House  for  Winter  Layers  which  has  a  Glass  Window,  also  a 
Cloth-Filled  Aperture    to  Provide  Ventilation. 


CARE  OF  FUTURE   LAYERS  33 


Continuous  Houses  for  Laying  Hens,  with  Part  of  the  Window  Space 
Occupied  by  Glass  and  Part  by  Cloth-Filled  Frames. 

growth  and  development  are  expected.  During  the  past 
few  years  food  hoppers  have  come  into  quite  general  use. 
These  are  so  arranged  that  dry  grains,  beef  scraps,  etc., 
are  held  in  a  sort  of  reservoir  and  fed  into -small  troughs 
at  its  base  as  fast  as  eaten  by  the  chicks.  These  hop- 
pers are  filled  whenever  empty  and  are  constantly  where 
the  chicks  can  reach  them.  This  method  of  feeding  re- 
duces considerably  the  time  required  to  care  for  a  large 
flock  and  in  most  cases  produces  as  good  or  better  results 
than  the  time-honored  three  meals  a  day.  Whole  and  crack- 
ed grain  of  different  varieties  may  be  placed  in  different 
compartments,  or  in  different  hoppers,  or  may  be  mixed  and 
fed  in  one  compartinent.  As  a  rule  the  chicks  will  waste 
less  if  it  is  fed  in  different  compartments  for  they  are  less 
likely  to  throw  out  grain  that  they  do  not  want  while 
searching  for  that  which  their  appetite  demands. 

Some  poultry  men  prefer  to  feed  what  they  call  a  dry 
mash  in  one  compartment  of  their  hoppers;  that  is,  they 
mix  the  ground  grains  and  whatever  they  would  use  in 
their  damp  mash  and  place  it  dry  in  the  hoppers.  These 
hoppers  are  easily  constructed  by  the  poultrymen  or  may 
be  obtained  of  most  dealers  in  poultry  supplies. 

These  hoppers  must  be  placed  in  the  houses  where  the 
pullets  can  reach  the  food  when  bad  weather  keeps  them 
indoors.  It  will  serve  as  an  inducement  for  them  to  re- 
tarn  to  the  buildings  at  evening. 

Provide  for  the  Overflow. 

It  not  infrequently  happens  that  the  poultryman  finds. 


34  EGG  MONEY 

himself  without  permanent  accommodations  sufficient  to 
shelter  his  entire  flock,  and  is  obliged  to  keep  the  younger 
ones  in  coops  until  he  can  so  reduce  his  stock  that  all  may- 
be placed  in  winter  quarters. 

The  open  front  coops  that  are  desirable  in  the  fall  will 
not  be  suitable  for  use  in  November  in  the  northern  states 
and  Canada.  But  they  can  be  made  suitable  by  providing 
each  with  a  temporary  front  of  boards,  in  which  there  is 
a  window  and  a  door.  Some  breeders  have  colony  coops 
built  for  this  purpose  which  are,  in  effect,  little  houses. 
They  are  tightly  built  and  have  doors  for  attendant  and 
fowls,  and  windows  capable  of  being  adjusted  for  venti- 
lating purposes.  One  of  these  coops,  three  feet  wide  and 
six  long,  equipped  with  roosts,  will  accommodate  twenty 
young  pullets  so  long  as  the  weather  will  permit  them  to 
be  out  half  of  the  time.  A  dozen  may  be  kept  in  such  a 
coop  well  into  winter,  if  necessity  compels  it,  without 
experiencing  much  hardship. 

These  coops  are  very  useful  in  the  spring  as  quarters 
for  h,ens  with  early  broods  of  chicks  for  which  small  coops 
would  not  be  sufficient  protection. 

Ask  a  novice  in  the  business  of  producing  market  eggs, 
how  a  flock  should  be  handled  to  produce  the  greatest  num- 
ber in  the  most  profitable  season  and  he  will  at  once  think 
of  feeding  as  the  only  important  feature  in  the  production 
of  this  well  paying  commodity.  While  there  can  be  no  suc- 
cess without  proper  feeding,  it  is  equally  true  that,  how- 
ever well-fed  a  flock  may  be,  it  will  not  produce  eggs  in  pay- 
ing quantities  in  the  season  of  high  prices  unless  condi- 
tions are  reasonably  favorable.  The  environment  and  gen- 
eral care  also  have  considerable  bearing  upon  the  amount 
of  food  consumed  and  therefore  affect  the  profits  at  two 
points.  Exercise,  fresh  air,  cleanliness,  all  contribute  to 
the  poultryman's  success  in  this  work. 

Warm  Versus  Cold  Houses. 

It  is  seldom  that  anyone  advises  the  use  of  artificial  heat 
in  poultry  houses,  but  some  poultrymen  strive  to  build 
houses  which  the  cold  will  not  penetrate,  by  building  double 
walls,  some  solid  and  some  with  packing  between,  by  using 
double  windows,  and  by  stopping  every  crack  and  crevice. 


CARE  OF  FUTURE  LAYERS.  35 

Others  are  firm  in  their  1:)eHef  and  outspoken  in  their  as- 
sertions that  houses  tigiiily  built  on  three  sides  of  one 
thickness  of  lumber,  with  perhaps  a  thickness  of  paper  add- 
ed, and  with  fronts  in  which  a  large  area  of  muslin  takes 
the  place  of  the  area  of  glass  usually  provided,  are  more 
comfortable  for  the  fowls  and  therefore  productive  of  more 
satisfactory  results. 

The  wTiter's  experience  with  tightly  built,  double  walled 
houses  has  been  far  from  satisfactory.  One  of  the  best 
buildings  of  the  kind  ever  built  was  tightly  boarded  inside 
and  outside  of  the  joists,  with  a  four-inch  air  space  between, 
and  was,  the  winter  through,  far  less  comfortable  than 
houses  on  the  same  plant  which  were  single  boarded,  the 
boards  being  covered  with  a  roofing  material  manufactured 
for  the  purpose.  Tn  a  tightly  built  house  ^vithout  perfect 
ventilation  dampness  will  collect,  rendering  the  house  far 
less  comfortable  for  the  fowls. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  best  ventilation  is  se- 
cured in  houses  in  which  the  place  of  glass  windows  is 
taken  by  cloth  filled  frames.  Pure  air  is  admitted  freely 
through  the  cloth  and  foul  air  escapes  as  easily,  but  drafts 
are  cut  off.  A  poultry  house  constructed  of  tongued  and 
grooved  lumber,  which  is  in  turn  tightly  covered  with  a 
good  quality  of  roofing  fabric,  will  be  comfortr..]:'le  a,nd 
healthful  in  almost  any  climate  if  the  area  of  glass  in  the 
front  side  is  not  greater  than  it  should  be,  :ind  if,  in  addi- 
tion, there  is  a  small  area  in  the  front  of  each  pen  filled 
with  heavy  cotton  cloth.  The  glass  will  admit  the  sun's 
rays  and  the  cloth  will  cut  off  the  drafts  but  admit  plenty 
of  fresh  air. 

The  Value  of  Exercise. 

The  majority  of  poultrymen,  of  which  number  the  writer 
is  one,  believe  thoroughly  in  the  value  of  vigorous  exercise 
during  the  winter  when  fowls  must  be  coniined  for  a  greater 
portion  of  the  time  to  the  houses.  On  bright  days  it  is  an 
excellent  practice  to  shovel  away  the  snow,  if  there  is  snow, 
from  in  front  of  the  houses  so  that  the  fowls  can  get  out  in 
the  middle  of  the  day. 

Some  breeders  who  have  not  many  fowls  to  care  for  put 


36  EGG  MONEY 

straw  or  other  material  out  in  the  open  air,  even  when  that 
area  is  surrounded  by  snow,  and  induce  the  hens  .to  scratch 
by  scattering  a  Uttle  grain  in  the  scratching  materiaL  But 
the  poultryman  whose  time  is  taken  from  before  daybreak 
until  after  dark,  seldom  does  anything  of  that  kind.  His 
fowls  must  take  their  exercise  indoors  and  he  therefore  cov- 
ers the  floor  of  each  pen  thick  with  hay,  straw,  leaves  or 
other  material  and  buries  all  whole  and  cracked  grain  there- 
in, compelling  his  fowls  to  scratch  it  out. 

Exercise  loses  half  its  value  when  not  performed  in 
fresh,  pure  air.  On  that  account  the  windows  should  be 
open,  more  or  less  according  to  the  temperature,  while  the 
fowls  are  at  work.  On  bright  days  they  may  be  thrown 
wide  open,  no  matter  how  low  the  temperature  is,  for  the 
fowls  are  far  less  susceptible  to  cold,  if  healthy,  when  w^ork- 
ing  than  they  are  to  the  sudden  change  which  follows  if 
they  become  overheated.  In  such  cases  they  invariably 
take  cold  when  inactive.  It  will  not  do  to  close  the  houses 
tightly  when  the  first  severe  weather  arrives.  Provide 
plenty  of  ventilation  to  keep  the  air  reasonably  pure  with- 
in the  building  or  colds  are  likely  to  result  and  roup  is 
probable. 

Green  Food  Essential. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  foods  fed  in  winter  are- 
largely  preserved;  that  is,  they  have  been  dried  or  cured 
so  that  they  will  keep  and  they  are  to  that  extent  artificial 
and  alone  will  not  keep  the  fowls  in  the  best  condition. 
Green  food  must  be  furnished  in  liberal  quantities  and  must 
be  of  reasonably  good  quality. 

The  orthodox  method  of  furnishing  green  food  is  to  sup- 
ply plenty  of  second  quality  cabbage.  While  no  fault  can  be 
found  with  this  vegetable  for  the  purpose,  there  are  others 
that  are  as  effective  and  w^hich  may  be  used  to  advantage- 
b}^  way  of  variety,  for  most  any  vegetable,  which  keeps  well 
in  winter,  may  be  fed  raw  to  the  fowls  if  they  will  eat  it 
with  relish.  Owners  of  orchards,  who  also  keep  poultry, 
frequently  store  away  several  barrels  of  small,  but  sound, 
apples  to^  feed  to  their  fowls  during  the  winter.  Probably 
nothing  equals  mangel-wurzel  beets  for  this  purpose;  they 


CARE   OF   FUTURE   LAYERS 


37 


not  only  furnish  a  succulent  and  appetizing  substance,  but 
are  much  stronger  in  food  values  than  the  other  green 
foods.  They  are  heavy  yielders  and  excellent  keepers. 
When  visiting  a  plant  in  Indiana  recently  in  the  month  of 
October,  the  writer  was  shown  some  m angel- wurzels  which 
had  been  stored  in  a  root  house  twelve  months  and  were 
.still  in  excellent  condition  for  feeding. 

The  Utility  of  Meat  Foods. 

It  is  generally  accepted  as  a  fact  that  m.eat  in  some  form 
must  be  furnished  if  the  best  results  in  winter  eo;os  are  ex- 


A   Temporary   Scratching  Shed   Built  in  Front   of  an   Ordinary  Laying 
House  of  the  Continuous  Type. 


pected.  For  this  purpose  ground  fresh  })one  easily  holds 
first  place  in  the  estimation  of  the  majority  of  poultry  keep- 
ers. Such  material  can  be  purchased  from  butchers  at  a 
price  ranging  from  a  cent  to  one  and  one  half  cents  a  pound. 
Sufficient  meat  usually  clings  to  these  bones  so  that  when 
ground  it  makes  a  food  that  is  efficient  and  not  too  expen- 
sive. Numerous  mills  are  manufactured  for  grinding  these 
bones.  These  mills  have  been  so  perfected  that  the  grind- 
ing of  sufficient  bone  to  feed  one  hundred  hens  three  times 
a  week  is  but  the  work  of  a  few  minutes  and  requires  no 
great  muscular  exertion. 

Those  who  cannot  obtain  fresh  bone  in  sufficient  quanti- 
ties or  who  for  any  reason  do  not  have  time  to  prepare  it, 


38  EGG  MONEY 

find  in  the  prepared  beef  scraps,  sold  by  dealers  in  poultry 
supplies,  a  very  satisfactory  substitute.  They_  may  be 
bought  in  any  quantity,  will  keep  indefinitely  in  a  (iry  place, 
and  are  convenient  to  handle  and  to  feed.  Owners  of  small 
flocks  containing  a  dozen  to  thirty  birds  often  find  the  meat 
scraps  left  from  their  tables  and  kitchens  sufficient  to  fur- 
nish all  the  meat  required  by  their  fowls. 

Kind  and  Quantity  of  Foods. 

No  rules  for  feeding  fowls  can  be  formulated  which  apply 
in  different  cases  with  equal  success.  One  poultryman  hav- 
ing had  excellent  success  when  feeding  certain  foods  will 
sometimes  decide  that  he  has  discovered  the  true  secret  of 
success  and  will  publish  his  manner  of  feeding.  Those  who 
read  and  repeat  his  method  fail  to  secure  as  good  results. 
That  is  due  to  different  environment,  care,  etc. 

Two  men  living  in  the  same  neighborhood,  handling  the 
same  varieties  of  fowls  and  using  the  same  methods  of 
housing  and  caring  for  their  ffocks  will  use  different  meth- 
ods of  feeding,  yet  one  will  have  as  good  success  as  the 
other. 

There  are,  however,  certain  grains  and  combinations  of 
grains  which  are  necessary  to  produce  good  results  under 
any  and  all  conditions.  The  principal  grains  fed  are  corn, 
wheat,  oats  and  barley  and  they  in  their  various  combina- 
tions are  sufficient  to  produce  a  good  yield  of  eggs,  if  the 
green  food,  meat,  etc.,  are  furnished  and  if  the  fowls  are 
properly  cared  for.  Variety,  although  necessary,  is  usually 
secured  by  alternating  these  grains,  though  additionl 
varieties  are  fed  at  times  in  limited  quantities,  with  good 
results.  It  is  evident  that  less  of  the  damp  mash  mixtures 
made  from  ground  grains  are  being  fed  as  time  goes  on. 
The  tendency  is  to  furnish  most  of  the  grain  ration  dry  and 
whole  or  cracked,  in  order  that  it  may  be  fed  in  a  deep  lit- 
ter to  promote  exercise. 

It  is  also  claimed  by  those  in  position  to  know  that  too 
much  feeding  of  damp  mashes  impairs  digestion.  The  ma- 
jority of  successful  poultrymen  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes  as  regards  their  manner  of  feeding:  one  class  feeds 
dry  food  entirely  and  the  other  a  combination  of  dry  and 


CARE  OF  FUTURE  LAYERS  39 

mash  food.  Of  the  first  the  greater  number  perhaps 
place  their  beef  scraps  and  dry  bran  in  hoppers  where  the 
fowls  constantly  have  access  to  it  and  bury  the  remainder 
of  the  food,  which  is  whole  and  cracked  grains,  in  the  litter. 

Of  those  who  still  cling  to  the  use  of  mash,  part  feed  it 
in  the  morning  and  part  feed  it  at  night.  A  few  believe 
that  mash  should  be  cool  when  fed  and  others  desire  to  feed 
it  warm. 

The  best  results,  from  the  writer's  experience,  have  been 
obtained  by  the  use  of  a  judicious  combination  of  the  two 
methods.  -  Whole  and  cracked  grain  are  fed  in  the  litter  in 
the  morning,  as  soon  as  the  fowls  leave  their  roosts.  Corn, 
wheat  and  oats,  furnished  alternately,  with  an  occasional 
feed  of  barley  is  used  for  this  purpose.  At  noon  on  very 
cold  days,  more  grain  is  buried  in  the  scratching  material 
in  order  that  the  fowls  may  have  more  opportunity  to  ex- 
ercise and  hasten  the  circulation  of  their  blood,  thereby 
protecting  them  to  some  extent  against  cold.  If  ground 
green  bone  is  fed,  noon  is  the  time  to  feed  it.  At  night  a 
mash  made  up  of  two  parts  corn  meal,  three  parts  bran,  one 
and  one  half  parts  steamed  green  cured  clover,  and  beef 
scraps  added  to  make  ten  per  cent  of  the  whole,  mixed  with 
water  or  milk,  has  always  produced  satisfactory  results. 
For  the  vegetable  part  of  this  mash,  cooked  and  mashed 
potatoes,  beets,  carrots,  turnips  or  any  combination  of  these 
varieties  is  desirable  and  may  be  used  at  very  slight  ex- 
pense. 

We  are  frequently  asked  about  the  quantity  of  food  needed 
by  each  fowl.  This  question  can  never  be  definitely  ans- 
wered because  fowls  of  the  same  breed,  in  the  same  pen, 
will  consume  different  amounts,  and  two  pens  of  the  same 
variety,  kept  under  apparently  the  same  conditions,  will 
require  different  amounts  of  food  at  different  times.  It  is 
a  safe  rule  to  feed  in  the  litter  no  more  grain  than  the  fowls 
are  willing  to  scratch  hard  to  obtain  and  to  feed  no  more 
mash  food  in  the  troughs  than  will  be  quickly  consumed. 
Clean  water  should  always  be  provided  and  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  the  fowls  cannot  scratch  dirt  into  it.  Grit,  shells, 
and  charcoal  should  always  be  accessible. 


FROM  FALL  TO  WINTER  QUARTERS. 

Sound  Advice  On  the  Care  of  Fowls  at  the  Beginning  of 

Cold  Weather — ^The  Advantage  of  Fresh  Air 

— Foods  Which  Must  Be  Furnished. 

By  L.  B.  Rich. 

November  is  the  month  when  many  people,  with  the  best 
of  intentions,  use  such  methods  in  caring  for  their  fowls 
that  they  put  them  in  such  condition  that  they  v/ill  lay 
hardly  an  egg  all  winter. 

Until  this  time  the  birds  have  been  roosting  in  open  front 
colony  houses,  trees,  old  sheds,  and  in  fact  almost  every- 
wiiere  on  the  place.  Don't  now  put  them  in  a  tight,  warm 
house,  with  windows  closed  and  no  chance  for  fresh  air  to 
get  in.  Of  course  you  must  put  them  into  the  house,  but  re- 
move the  windows  entirely,  (if  you  are  so  unfortunate  as  to 
have  any)  and  leave  them  off  until  the  thermometer  records 
zero  weather.  Don't  be  afraid  they  will  freeze.  What  do 
you  suppose  they  have  been  putting  on  all  those  new  feathers 
for?  Not  for  looks  alone  surely,  Init  for  protection  against 
cold;  and  after  nature  has  provided  a  good  warm  coat  for 
your  birds,  don't  make  it  uncomfortable  and  unhealthy  for 
them  to  wear  it. 

Just  keep  your  think-tank  workins;,  and  you  will  soon 
know  the  folly  of  using  tight,  warm  hoi.ises. 

iVlusIin  Windows  for  Zero  Weather. 

^Vhen  zero  arrives  stretch  common  muslin  in  the  open- 
ings where  you  had  windows.  Put  it  on  frames  and  hang 
the  frames  so  that  they  will  swing  in  and  up.  On  bright, 
sunny  da3's,  no  matter  how  cold  it  is,  swing  them  up  and 
let  the  sunlight  shine  directly  into  the  house.  It  will 
purify  the  litter  and  the  birds  enjoy  it. 

I  can  hear  j^ou  say,  ''that  won't  do  for  my  Leghorns. " 
That's  where  you  are  wrong.  A  breeder  at  Duluth, 
Minn.,  has  wintered  his  Leghorns  in  a  house  with  muslin 
windows  for  three  years,  with  excellent  results. 


FALL  TO   WINTER  QUARTERS  41 

During  the  summer  and  fall  the  fowls  have  had  all  the 
^clover,  grass  and  l)ugs  they  wanted.  Now  if  you  do  not 
supply  them,  just  as  soon  as  they  are  penned  up^  with 
green  stuff  and  animal  food,  in  some  form,  don't  look  for 
eggs. 

Feed  Green  Food  and  Meat. 

Build  a  small  rack,  like  those  farmers  feed  sheep  in,  and 
iill  it  with  clover  ha}^;  the  fowls  will  eat  everything  but  the 
w^oody  stalks.  The  possession  of  a  clover  cutter  is  an  ad- 
vantage, but  one  can  do  without  it.  Once  a  week  a  feed  of 
■chopped  onions  will  do  worlds  of  ^o^ood. 

Animal  food  can  be  supplied  in  the  form  of  skim-milk, 
if  you  have  it;  if  not,  get  some  prepared  beef  scraps  from 
any  of  the  supply  houses  and  keep  it  before  your  birds  all 
the  time.  One  hundred  hens  will  3at  one  hundred  pounds 
■of  good  scraps  in  thirty  days.  Keep  rise  a  box  of  dry  bran 
where  the  fowls  can  always  reach  it. 

Feed  as  many  kinds  of  grain  as  you  can  get  but  feed  it  in 
deep  litter,  so  the  hens  will  have  ',o  scratch  for  it.  Do  all 
these  things  and  you  will  get  winter  eggs  if  your  stock  has 
the  winter  laying  ability  in  them,  but  do  not  expect  a  hen 
that  has  laid  only  in  spring  and  summer  to  produce  daughters 
that  will  lay  in  winter,  for  they  won't  do  it 

How  to  Provide  Exercise. 

When  the  fowls  are  out  in  the  fields,  or  in  large  yards, 
they  obtain  sufficient  exercise;  but  when  snow,  or  extreme 
cold,  makes  it  necessary  to  shut  them  in  houses,  some 
means  of  exercising  must  be  furnished  or  the  health  of 
the  birds  will  suffer. 

The  best  way  to  compel  exercise  is  to  cover  the  floors  of 
the  houses  with  cheap  hay,  straw,  leaves,  hay  chaff,,  corn 
husks,  or  any  material  in  which  hard  grain  can  be  buried 
and  from  which  the  fowls  can  scratch  it  out. 

If  a  moderate  amount  of  grain  is  fed  at  each  meal  the 
flock  will  work  vigorously  several  hours  each  day  and  their 
productiveness   will   increase   considerably. 

Be  sure  that  the  windows  are  open  so  that  plent}^  of  fresh 
air  is  admitted  while  the  hens  are  at  work.  Don't  be  afraid 
that  the  fowls  will  take  cold  while  exercising. 


p^^vK-^:^^:- 


n^-^^y^    

y^-i ......    <:.     ....     .  .,-.-^A;.^ 


HOUSES  FOR  LAYING  HENS. 

A  Description  of  the  Equipment  in  Use  at  the  Maine  Ex= 

periment   Station — The   Good   Qualities   and    Defects 

Brought    to    Light    by    Experiments — How  a 

Satisfactory    Building   for    Layers   Was 

Finally  Constructed. 

By  G.  M.  Gowell. 

Two  styles  of  houses  are  in  use  at  the  Maine  Station. 
One  is  a  thoroughly  made  double  walled  building,  16  x  150 
feet  in  size.  It  is  always  kept  above  freezing  by  a  water 
heater  and  a  flow  and  return  two-inch  pipe,  running  the 
length  of  the  building.  This  building  was  constructed 
with  especial  reference  to  comfort,  health  and  productive- 
ness. Small,  well  made  houses  with  single  walls  had  for- 
merly been  in  use,  but  they  would  get  white  with  frost  in 
cold  weather,  if  shut  up  close  enough  so  the  birds  did  not 
suffer  from  cold  during  winter  nights.  When  the  weather 
moderated,  the  white  frost  would  change  to  water  and  the 
straw  litter  on  the  floor  would  become  damp  and  clammy. 
The  birds  showed  their  dislike  for  the  damp  straw  by  keep- 
ing off  from  it  as  much  as  they  could.  Such  houses  were 
unsatisfactory,  and  so  the  large  warmed  house  was  built. 
It  was  a  decided  improvement  over  the  cold  ones,  because 
it  could  be  ventilated  and  the  birds  not  suffer  with  the  cold. 
But  it  was  not  possible  to  secure  sufficient  ventilation, 
even  though  the  house  was  moderately  warmed,  to  prevent 
the  presence  of  considerable  moisture  in  the  bedding. 

Good  yields  of  eggs  were  obtained  from  hens  kept  in 
that  house  and  the  losses  of  birds  were  not  excessive.  The 
hens  showed,  however,  that  they  were  not  in  the  best  con- 
dition by  a  little  lack  of  color  in  comb  and  energy  in  action. 
This  house  has  not  been  abandoned,  but  is  not  prized 
for  laying  hens.     Since  breeding  cockerels  cannot  be  car- 


44  EGG  MONEY 

ried  over  in  the  other  houses,  without  danger  of  chilled  combs, 
they  are  wintered  in  this  warmed  house  until  danger  from 
chilling  is  past. 

The  First  Fresh  Air  House. 

In  seeking  for  some  better  system  of  housing  the  birds 
one  of  the  small  close  houses,  formerly  used,  was  changed 
into  an  open  house.  The  building  was  10  feet  wide  and  25 
feet  long.  An  opening  3  feet  wide  and  15  feet  long  was 
made  close  up  under  the  plate,  and  was  left  open  every  day 
in  winter,  except  when  the  snow  or  rain  blew  in.  At  night 
the  opening  was  covered  with  a  framed  curtain  made  of 
cotton  cloth.  An  elevated  roosting  closet  along  the  entire 
length  of  the  back  of  the  building  was  made  warm  by  pack- 
ing the  walls  with  hay.  A  close  fitting  frame  cloth  cur- 
tain shut  them  in  at  night. 

It  did  not  freeze  in  the  closet  and  the  birds  apparently 
did  not  suffer  for  lack  of  air.  They  seemed  to  enjoy  com- 
ing out  of  the  warm  sleeping  closet,  down  into  the  cold  straw, 
which  was  never  damp,  as  the  whole  house  was  open  to  the 
outside  air  and  sun  every  day.  There  were  no  shut  off 
corners  of  the  floor  or  closet  that  were  damp.  This  build- 
ing was  used  through  three  winters  with  50  hens  in  it  each 
year  and  did  not  have  a  sick  bird  in  it.  Not  a  case  of  cold 
or  sniffles  developed  from  sleeping  in  the  closet  with  its 
cloth  front,  and  then  going  directly  down  into  the  dry 
straw,  in  the  cold  room,  and  spending  the  day  in  the  open  air. 

The  birds  laid  as  well  as  did  their  mates  in  the  large 
warmed  house.  Their  combs  have  been  red  and  plumage 
bright  and  they  have  given  every  evidence  of  perfect  health 
and  vigor.  While  they  are  on  the  roosts,  in  bed,  they  are 
warm.  They  come  down  to  their  breakfasts  and  spend  the 
day  in  the  open  air.  Such  habits  of  life  seem  to  work  equal- 
ly well  with  brute  or  man. 

After  having  used  this  so-called  pioneer  house  one  year,  a 
house  was  constructed  12  feet  wide  and  68  feet  long.  Its 
front  and  back  walls  were  5  feet  high  and  the  roof  was  even- 
ly divided.  It  was  divided  into  2  rooms,  each  34  feet  long. 
The  elevated  roosting  closets  extended  along  the  entire 
back  of  each  room  and  they  were  constructed  in  the  same 


HOUSES  FOR  LAYING  HENS 


45. 


manner  as  the  one  in  the  pioneer  house.  The  partition  be- 
tween the  2  rooms  was  made  of  2-inch  mesh  pouhry  net- 
ting. There  were  4  openings  in  the  front  of  the  building, 
2  in  each  room,  equal  distances  apart.  Each  opening  was 
3^  X  8  feet  in  size,  fitted  with  frame  cloth  curtains,  to  be 
used  only  on  winter  nights  and  stormy  days,  in  the  same 


The   Original   Fresh   Air   (Curtain    Front)    Laying   House   at   the   Maine 
Ebcperiment  Station,   Described  by   G.   M.   Gowell. 

way  that  they  were  in  the  pioneer  house.  These  openings 
were  put  up  close  to  the  plates  and  came  down  to  within 
13^2  feet  of  the  floor.  There  were  no  glass  windows  in  the 
building. 

Currents  of  Air  Proved  Troublesome. 

This  house  was  not  satisfactory.  There  were  currents; 
of  air  from  one  end  of  the  building  to  the  other,  even  when 
there  was  little  wind  outside,  and  when  the  wind  was  high 
in  winter  the  loose  snow  would  be  sifted  in  and  distributed 
over  a  large  part  of  the  floor,  dampening  the  litter  and  mak- 


46  EGG  MONEY 

ing  life  uncomfortable  for  the  birds.  The  wire  partition 
between  the  pens  was  replaced  with  one  of  close  boards, 
and  conditions  were  bettered;  but  each  of  the  pens  still 
had  two  openings,  about  8  feet  apart,  and  the  same  troubles 
from  currents  of  air  and  sifting  snow  continued,  although 
somewhat  lessened.  One  of  the  openings  was  closed  by- 
screwing  glass  windows  on  the  outside.  This  left  each 
of  the  rooms  with  one  opening  and  one  large  glass  window. 

This  change  entirely  corrected  strong  air  currents 
through  the  building  and  sifting  snow,  except  in  heavy 
storms  when  the  wind  is  strong  from  the  south.  Of  course 
the  large  opening  allows  the  wind  to  blow  into  the  room, 
but  as  there  is  no  outlet  for  it  except  where  it  came  in,j 
there  are  no  drafts  of  air  across  the  birds  to  cause  them- 
to   be   uncomfortable   and   take   colds. 

Another  difficulty  remained;  the  opening  came  down 
to  within  13^2  f^et  of  the  floor,  and  the  birds,  sunning  them- 
selves on  the  floor  or  scratching  in  the  litter,  were  in  the 
direct  course  of  the  outside  air  as  it  came  into  the  room 
and  they  tried  to  find  sheltered  corners  where  they  might 
be  more  comfortable.  On  this  account  the  width  of  the 
opening  was  reduced  from  3^  feet  to  2  feet  by  ceiling  up 
the  lower  part  of  it.  This  gave  a  bulkhead  3  feet  high, 
sufficient  to  protect  the  birds  on  the  floor  from  the  direct 
inflow  of  outdoor  air  and  they  were  happy. 

One  objection  to  this  house  still  remains;  its  front  wall 
is  too  low  to  allow  room  for  a  large  opening,  high  enough 
so  that  the  sun  can  shine  in  and  back  across  the  floor  to 
the  back  wall  during  the  short  days  in  winter,  when  the 
sun  runs  low.  This  feature  in  construction  seems  to  be 
of  the  utmost  importance,  for  dependence  is  had  upon  the 
sunshine  and  pure  outside  air  to  keep  the  floor  litter  dry 
and  the  elevated  roosting  closet  clean.  The  entire  front 
of  the  roosting  closet  being  open,  leaves  no  dark  corners 
where  the  air  and  light  cannot  do  their  thorough  cleansing. 

Experience  with  the  house  showed  its  several  bad  fea- 
tures On  the  other  hand,  the  pioneer  house,  which  had 
been  in  use  for  three  years,  gave  great  satisfaction,  and  the 
same  general  plan  was  adopted  in  the  construction  of  a 
large   house. 


HOUSES  FOR  LAYING  HENS  47 

This  house,  designated  as  No.  2,  was  built  three  years 
ago.  It  is  12  feet  wide  and  150  feet  long  and  is  divided 
into  20  feet  sections.  In  each  section,  with  its  floor  sur- 
face of  240  feet,  50  pullets  have  been  wintered  each  year, 
most    successfully. 

Wide  Houses  are  Most  Satisfactory. 

Two  years  ago  another  house  was  built  on  the  same 
plan,  except  that  it  is  16  feet  wide  instead  of  12.  It  is  120 
feet  long  and  consists  of  4  sections  or  houses,  each  16  x  30 
feet  in  size.  There  is  no  separate  walk  through  the  build- 
ing, but  in  the  close  board  partition,  separating  the  pens, 
are  doors,  hung  with  double  acting  hinges,  which  allow 
them  to  swing  both  ways  and  close  automatically  after 
the  attendant  passes  through.  Each  pen  has  a  floor 
surface  of  480  feet  and  gives  ample  accommodation  to  100 
hens.  All  of  the  hens  in  these  two  open  front  houses, 
in  flocks  of  50  or  100,  averaged  laying  144  eggs  each  last  year, 
and  the  birds  were  in  excellent  health.  The  front  curtains 
were  open  all  of  the  time  every  day,  except  the  very  stormiest 
in  winter. 

While  the  same  plan  is  common  to  all  of  these  oper. 
front  houses,  the  width  has  been  increased  in  each  succeed- 
ing one  built.  The  first  house  was  10  feet  wide,  the  second 
12  feet,  the  third  16  feet  in  width.  The  laying  and  breed- 
ing house  at  Go- Well  Farm,  to  be  described,  is  20  feet  wide 
and  is  more  satisfactory  than  the  narrower  houses,  because 
of  economy  in  cost  and  its  greater  housing  capacity  in  pro- 
portion to  its  length,  which  reduces  the  labor  required  in 
caring  for  the  birds,  by  having  them  in  square  rooms  rather 
than   in   long   narrow   ones. 

The  poultry  plant  at  the  Station  is  devoted  to  experi- 
ment and  research  work.  There  are  many  questions 
relating  directly  to  commercial  poultry  operations  that 
are  left  untouched  because  the  Station  plant  is  already 
taxed  to  its  capacity. 

When  the  Go- Well  poultry  farm  was  established  last 
year,  the  opportunities  were  so  good  for  studying  poultry 
subjects  on  a  purely  commercial  plant,  where  the  entire 
energies  of  the  place  are  devoted  to  this  one  business  specialty 


48  EGG  MONEY 

that  arrangements  were  made  with  its  owner  which  enables- 
the  Station  to  study  the  practical  application  of  many  of 
its  own  findings  on  an  extensive,  intensive  business  plant. 
Of  the  hundred  acres  of  land  comprising  the  farm,  thirty 
acres  immediately  at,  and  overlooking  the  village  of  Orono 
was  fallowed  and  tilled  for  a  year,  then  seeded  to  clover 
and  grasses,  in  order  to  bring  it  into  good  condition  for 
poultry  farming. 

A  Laying  House  for  2,000  Hens. 

During  the  summer  of  1905  a  laying  house  was  built 
to  accommodate  2,000  hens.  It  is  20  feet  wide  and  400 
feet  long.  It  is  on  the  same  general  plan  as  houses  Nos. 
2  and  3  at  the  Experiment  Station.  House  No.  2  is  12 
feet  wide;  house  No.  3  is  16  feet  wide,  and  this  one  is  20' 
feet  wide.  The  widths  have  been  increased  in  the  last 
2  houses,  as  experience  has  shown  the  advisability  of  it. 
At  first  it  was  thought  the  houses  should  be  narrow  so  they 
might  dry  out  readily,  but  the  widest  house  dries  out  satis- 
factorily as  the  opening  in  the  front  is  placed  high  up, 
so  that  in  the  shortest  winter  days  the  sun  shines  in  on  the 
floor  to  the  back. 

The  economy  in  the  cost  of  the  wide  house  over  the  nar- 
row ones,  when  space  is  considered,  is  evident.  The  front 
and  back  walls  in  the  narrow  house  cost  about  as  much  per 
lineal  foot  as  those  in  the  wide  house,  and  the  greatly  increas- 
ed floor  space  is  secured  by  building  in  a  strip  of  floor  and 
roof,  running  lengthwise  of  the  building.  The  carrying 
capacity  of  a  house  20  feet  wide  is  G6  per  cent  greater  than 
that  of  a  house  12  feet  wide,  and  it  is  secured  by  building 
additional  floor  space  only.  The  walls,  doors  and  windows 
remain  the  same  as  in  the  narrow  house,  except  that  the  front 
wall  is  made  a  little  higher.  Three  sills  which  are  6  inches 
square  run  lengthwise  of  the  house,  the  central  one  support- 
ing the  floor  timbers  in  the  middle.  They  rest  on  a  rough 
stone  wall,  high  enough  from  the  ground  so  that  dogs  can 
go  under  the  building  to  look  after  rats  and  skunks  that 
might  incline  to  make  their  homes  there.  The  stone  wall 
rests  on  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  floor  timbers  are 
2x8  inches  in  size  and  rest  wholly  on  top  of  the  sills.     All 


HOUSES  FOR  LAYING  HENS 


49 


wall  studs  rest  on  the  sills;  the  front  ones  are  8  feet  long  and 
the  back  ones  6  feet  6  inches  long.  The  roof  is  unequal  in 
width,  the  ridge  being  in  8  feet  from  the  front  wall.  The 
height  of  the  ridge  from  the  silfto  the  extreme  top  is  12  feet 
6  inches.  All  studding  is  2  x  4  inches  in  size,  and  the  rafters 
are  2x5.      The  building  is  boarded  with  inch  boards  and 


^'mi'mi  wA, 


A    Section    of    the 


'House    for    Two    Thousand    Hens,' 
G.  M.  Gowell. 


Described    by- 


papered  and  shingled  with  good  cedar  shingles  on  walls 
and  roof.  The  floor  is  of  two  thicknesses  of  hemlock 
boards,  which  break  joints  well  in  the  laying. 
Tight  Partitions  Separate  the  Pens. 
The  building  is  divided  by  tight  board  partitions  into 
20  sections,  each  section  being  20  feet  long.  All  of  the 
sections  are  alike  in  construction  and  arrangement.  The 
front  side  of  each  section  has  two  windows  of  12  lights  of 
10  X  12  glass,  screwed  on,  upright,  2  feet  8  inches  from 
each  end  of  the  room.  They  are  3  feet  above  the-  floor. 
The  space  between  the  windows  is  8  feet  10  inches  long  and 
the  top  part  of  it  down  from  the  plate,  33^  feet,  is  not 
boarded,  but  left  open  to  be  covered  by  the  cloth  curtain 
when  necessary.  This  leaves  a  tight  wall,  3  feet  10  inches  high, 
extending  from  the  bottom  of  the  opening  down  to  the  floor, 
which  prevents  the  wind  from  blowing  directly  on  to  the 
birds  when  they  are  on  the  floor.      A  door  is  made  in  this 


50  EGG  MONEY 

part  of  the  front  wall  for  the  attendant  to  pass  through 
when  the  curtain  is  open.  A  door  16  inches  high  and  18 
inches  wide  is  arranged  under  one  of  the  windows  for  the 
birds  to  pass  through  to  yards  in  front.  It  is  placed  close 
down  to  the  floor.  A  similar  door  is  in  the  center  of  the  back 
wall  to  admit  them  to  the  rear  when  that  yard  is  used. 

A  light  frame,  made  of  1  x  3  inch  pine  strips  and  1x6 
inch  cross  ties,  is  covered  with  10-ounce  white  duck  and 
hinged  at  the  top  of  the  front  opening,  which  it  covers 
when  closed  down.  This  curtain  is  easily  turned  up  into 
the  room  where  it  is  caught  and  held  by  swinging  hooks 
until  it  is  released. 

The  roost  platform  is  made  tight  and  extends  along  the 
whole  length  of  the  room  against  the  back  wall.  It  is  4 
feet  10  inches  wide  and  3  feet  above  the  floor,  high  enough 
so  that  a  person  can  get  under  it  comfortably  when  neces- 
sary to  catch  or  handle  the  birds.  There  are  three  roosts 
framed  together  in  two  10-feet  sections.  They  are  one  foot 
above  the  platform  and  hinged  to  the  back  wall  so  they 
may  be  turned  up  out  of  the  way  when  the  platform  is  being 
cleaned.  The  back  roost  is  12  inches  from  the  wall  and 
the  spaces  between  the  next  two  are  16  inches.  They  are 
made  of  2  x  3  spruce  stuff,  placed  on  edge,  with  the  upper 
corners  rounded  off.  The  roosting  closet  is  shut  off  from 
the  rest  of  the  room  by  curtains,  similar  to  the  one  de- 
scribed above.  For  convenience  in  handling,  there  are  two 
of  them,  each  10  feet  long.  They  are  3  feet  wide  and  are 
hinged  at  the  top  so  as  to  be  turned  out  and  hooked  up. 
The  space  above  this  curtain  is  ceiled  up  and  in  it  are  two 
openings  each  3  feet  long,  and  6  inches  wide,  with  sHdes  for 
ventilating  the  closet  when  necessary.  There  is  a  door  in 
every  partition,  placed  5  inches  out  from  the  edge  of  the 
roost  platform.  They  are  3  feet  wide  and  7  feet  high; 
they  are  divided  in  the  middle,  lengthwise,  and  each  half 
is  hung  with  double  acting  spring  hinges,  allowing  them 
to  swing  open  both  ways  and  close. 

Construction  of  Nests  and  Feed  Troughs. 

Ten  nests  are  placed  against  the  partition  in  each  end 
of  the  room,  in  two  tiers.  They  are  of  ordinary  form,  each 
nesting  space  being  one  foot  wide,  one  foot  high  and  2  feet 


HOUSES  FOR  LAYING  HENS 


51 


long,  with  the  entrances  near  the  partition,  away  from  the 
Hght,  and  with  hinged  covers  in  front  for  the  removal  of 
the  eggs.  Each  section  of  five  nests  can  be  taken  out, 
without  disturbing  anything  else,  and  cleaned  and  returned. 


Iiilorior  of  One  of  the  Pons   in   the   "House  for   Two  Thousand  Hens," 
Described  by  G.   M.   Goweil. 

Troughs  are  used  for  feeding  the  mixtures  of  dry  meals, 
shell,  bone,  grit  and  charcoal.  The  bottoms  are  made  of 
boards,  7  inches  wide;  the  ends  being  of  the  same  width 
and  18  inches  high.  The  back  is  of  boards  and  the  cover 
is  of  the  same  material  and  slopes  forward  sufficiently  so 
the  birds  cannot  stay  on  it.  A  strip  5  inches  wide  is  nailed 
along  the  front  edge  of  the  bottom  to  make  the  side  of  the 
trough.  Pieces  of  lath  are  nailed  upright  on  the  front, 
2  inches  apart,  between  which  the  hens  reach  through  for 
the  feed.  A  strip  2  inches  wide  is  fastened  to  the  front  of 
the  trough  at  an  angle  of  about  45  degrees  to  catch  the  fine 
meal  that  the  birds  pull  out  and  would  otherwise  waste. 
They  clear  it  up  'from  this  little  catchall  and  so  waste  is 
mostly  prevented. 

Feeding  by  Rail. 

Two  lines  of  4  x  4  inch  spruce  are  arranged  as  an  elevated 


52  EGG  MONEY 

tr^,^k  above  the  doors.  The  track  extends  the  entire  length 
of  Ihe  building  and  being  faced  with  narrow  steel  bands  on 
top,  a  suspended  car  is  readily  pushed  along,  even  when 
heavily  loaded.  The  platform  of  the  car  is  2  x  8  feet  in  size 
and  is  elevated  a  foot  above  the  floor.  All  food  and  water  is 
carried  through  the  building  on  this  car.  The  ten  iron 
baskets,  into  which  the  roost  platforms  are  cleaned  every 
morning,  are  put  on  the  car  and  collections  made  as  the  car 
passes  through  the  pens  to  the  far  end  of  the  building,  400 
feet  away,  where  the  roost  cleanings  are  dumped  in  the 
manure  shed.  As  the  car  is  pushed  along,  the  guard  at  the 
front  end  comes  in  contact  with  the  doors  and  pushes  them 
open  and  they  remain  so  until  the  car  has  passed  through, 
when  the  spring  hinges  force  them  to  close  again.  This 
car  is  a  great  labor  saver,  as  it  does  away  with  nearly  all 
lugging  by  the  workman.  It  has  enabled  one  man  to 
take  good  care  of  the  2,000  hens  from  November  to  March, 
except  on  Saturdays,  when  the  litter  has  been  removed  and 
renewed  by  other  men. 

At  one  end  of  the  building  there  is  a  temporary  food  ana 
water  house  for  dish  washing  and  scalding  and  where  the 
car  remains  when  not  being  used. 

An  Outside,  Elevated  Walk. 

There  is  a  walk  outside  of  the  building  extending  along 
its  entire  front.  It  is  4  feet  wide  and  is  made  of  2-inch 
plank;  it  is  elevated  2  feet  above  the  floor  of  the  building, 
which  allows  the  doors,  through  which  the  birds  pass  to 
the  front  yards,  to  be  opened  and  closed  without  interference. 
The  door  wiiich  opens  out  of  each  room  through  the  curtain 
section,  is  above  the  outside  walk  and  necessitates  stepping 
up  or  down  when  passing  through,  which  is  not  a  very  serious 
objection,  as  the  door  is  used  but  Httle  in  the  daily  work, 
but  mostly  in  cleaning  out  and  renewing  the  floor  litter. 
A  guard  of  wire  poultry  netting,  a  foot  wide  along  the  out- 
side of  the  walk  prevents  the  birds  from  flying  from  the  yards 
up  to  the  walk.  The  advantages  of  the  elevated  walk  over 
one  on  a  level  with  the  sill  of  the  building  is  that  it  is 
unobstructed  by  gates,  which  would  be  necessary  were 
the  low  walk  used,  to  prevent  the  birds  from  passing  from 
one  yard  to  another. 


FEEDING  THE  LAYING  HENS. 

Feed  Fattening  Foods  Sparingly — Green  Food  and  Grit  Are 
Essential — A  Good  Mash — The  Best  Grain  is  Cheapest  to 
Feed — No  Success  Without  Fresh  Air. 

By  Victor  D.  Caneday. 

We  are  now  entering  upon  a  season  of  the  year  when  the 
question  of  feeding  is  a  very  important  one,  and  while  it  is  a 
fact  that  we  cannot  write  any  definite  rules  that  will  hold  good 
in  all  cases,  still  by  giving  our  experience  we  may  benefit 
those  who  as  3^et  have  little  confidence  in  their  ability  to  feed 
and  care  for  a  flock  of  hens  so  as  to  obtain  reasonably  good 
results  in  winter  egg  production.  In  fact,  in  the  first  place 
we  have  learned  that  while  a  variety  of  food  is  desirable, 
marked  changes  in-  kind  and  quantity  of  food  is  one  of  the 
most  certain  things  to  cripple  the  egg  record.  The  less 
changes  and  the  more  gradual  the  changes  (when  such  are 
necessary)  that  one  makes  in  either  the  care  or  feeding  of 
a  flock,  the  better  the  egg  record  will  be.  Another  thing, 
our  work  with  the  biddies  has  taught  us  that  ordinarily 
there  is  more  danger  of  overfeeding  with  soft  foods  than 
with  whole  grains,  therefore,  we  are  very  careful  to  keep 
within  safe  bounds  as  to  the  quantity  of  soft  food  given 
the  fowls.  To  prevent  overfeeding  with  grain,  the  whole 
grain  should  all  be  scattered  in  a  litter  in  the  scratching  sheds 
or  rooms  so  as  to  compel  the  hens  to  work  for  what  they 
obtain.  There  is  no  one  thing  the  equal  of  exercise  to  keep 
a  flock  in  fine,  healthy  condition. 

Avoid  Fattening  Foods. 

To  prevent  the  hens  becoming  too  fat  we  avoid  feeding 
fattening  foods  such  as  corn,  barley,  buckwheat,  etc.  We 
feed  more  oats  than  anything  else  to  the  mature  hens,  as 
it  is  the  very  best  grain  for  egg  production  we  have.  We 
begin  in  the  molting  season  to  feed  a  little  wheat  with  the 
oats  and  in  winter  feed  about  one-third  wheat  and  two- 


54  EGG  MONEY 

thirds  oats,  but  in  summer  weather  we  feed  nearly  altogether 
of  the  oats.  Of  course  one  must  be  governed  by  the  con- 
dition of  a  fiock  which  depends  considerably  upon  the  kind 
of  range  they  have.  We  endeavor  to  have  all  our  stock 
on  good  grass  range  in  the  summer  time  and  keep  them 
well  supphed  with  green  food  such  as  cabbages,  mangels, 
sugar  beets,  cut  clover,  etc.,  in  the  winter  months.  One 
thing  that  is  never  allowed  to  become  empty  is  the  grit 
box.  Perfect  digestion  goes  a  long  way  towards  success 
in  feeding  and  good  sharp  grit  is  an  important  essential  in 
accomplishing  that  end  with  poultry. 

Corn  is  Fed  in  the  Mash. 

The  only  place  for  corn  in  our  bill  of  fare  for  the  laying 
stock  is  in  the  morning  mash,  the  ground  grain  of  which  is 
composed  one-half  corn  and  oats  and  one-half  bran  by 
measure.  We  formerly  used  shorts  or  middlings,  but  never 
seemed  to  obtain  as  good  results  as  we  have  when  using  the 
bran  and  ground  feed.  Bran  is  a  fine  regulator  and  we 
quite  often,  when  the  flock  is  showing  a  lack  of  appetite, 
or  at  times  when  conditions  of  weather  have  been  trying, 
give  them  a  warm  bran  mash — never  give  food  to  fowls  hot. 
Bran  scalded  is  quite  laxative  and  is  a  great  aid  in  keeping 
the  fowls  from  becoming  constipated  or  the  system  clogged 
with  overfeeding.  The  foundation  of  the  mash  is  made  up 
of  potato  parings,  table  scraps,  small  potatoes,  or  any 
vegetables  available,  thoroughly  cooked,  chopped  fine 
and  mixed  with  the  ground  grains  to  a  crumbly  consistency. 
We  mix  the  mash  as  dry  and  crumbly  as  we  can  and  never 
feed  it  wet. 

The  Quantity  of  Food  Required. 

We  feed  at  the  rate  of  a  quart  of  whole  grain  to  each  six 
fowls,  and  one  large  iron  spoonful  of  soft  food  to  every  two 
fowls  per  day.  One  must  note  if  the  flock  is  getting  too 
little  or  too  much  by  examining  the  scratching  shed  floors 
occasionally  and  watching  the  condition  and  appetite  of 
the  hens.  However,  we  find  there  is  little  need  of  any  very 
great  variation  from  these  amounts,  but  no  one  will  be  able 
to  measure  out  feed  to  hens  with  a  machine  and  obtain  good 
results.      Every  flock  needs  watching,  and  if  we  were  to 


FEEDING  THE  LAYING  HENS  55 

hire  everything  else  done,  the  feeding  we  would  feel  com- 
pelled to  personally  attend  to.  We  formerly  fed  green 
cut  bone,  but  had  so  much  difficulty  in  obtaining  it,  and  in 
the  summer  time  it  was  so  often  spoiled  that  we  have  been 
using  meat  meal,  which  is  no  more  expensive  and  as  far 
as  we  can  see,  from  about  a  year's  use,  accomplishes  fully 
as  good  results  both  in  health,  vigor  and  egg  production. 

Nothing  Equal  to  Oats. 

There  are  some  people  foolish  enough  to  believe  that 
oats  are  liable  to  injure  fowls  by  swelling  and  packing  in 
and  piercing  their  crops.  We  have  yet  to  find  the  person 
who  iias  ever  known  personally  of  such  a  thing  happening, 
and  in  all  the  time  we  have  fed  whole,  dry  oats  we  have 
never  had  the  slightest  reason  to  believe  the  oats  were 
any  more  injurious  to  their  crops  than  wheat,  and  we  feed 
nearly  all  whole  oats  to  our  hens.  There  is  no  whole  grain 
equal  to  oats  as  an  egg  producer,  and  when  the  poultry 
keepers  get  to  feeding  it  more  generally  we  shall  not  hear 
so  many  complaints  of  overfat  hens  and  poor  layers. 

One  important  consideration  in  the  feeding  of  oats  is  to 
feed  good,  plump,  heavy  grain.  The  quality  of  oats  is  not 
so  apparent  to  the  inexperienced  as  would  be  the  quality  of 
other  grains.  We  endeavor  to  always  buy  the  heaviest 
oats  possible  and  all  grain  of  first  quality  we  consider  the 
cheapest  in  the  end. 

In  the  conclusion  of  these  thoughts  on  feeding  for  eggs, 
we  desire  to  say  that  some  of  the  most  common  causes  of 
failure  in  obtaining  eggs  in  the  winter  is  lack  of  fresh  air. 
The  hens  should  be  allowed  to  run  out  whenever  the  weather 
is  warm  enough  to  not  freeze  their  combs  and  the  houses 
should  be  aired  out  thoroughly  in  the  warm  part  of  the  day, 
every  day  during  the  winter  except  when  it  is  so  cold  that 
it  is  entirely  impractical.  We  keep  our  house  open  (have 
wire  netting,  one  inch  mesh,  on  windows)  the  year  round 
just  as  much  as  the  weather  will  permit.  If  these  directions 
are  followed  with  a  properly  constructed  house,  free  from 
drafts,  and  the  fowls  are  not  allowed  to  crowd  too  much 
on  the  roosts,  colds  and  roup  will  be  unknown  diseases^ 
except  they  be  introduced  through  infected  birds. 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS. 


How   Several    Prominent    Poultry    Breeders   Care   for   and 
Feed  Their  Fowls  to  Obtain  the  Greatest  Number  of 
Eggs  in  the  Season  of  High  Prices — A  Symposium. 

Methods  of  Feeding  That  Are  Effective  During  the  Cold 

Minnesota  Winters. 

By  E.  S.  Person. 

While  I  have  never  made  any  great  effort  to  get  my 
hens  to  lay  early  in  the  winter,  from  all  my  experience  I 
know  that  it  can  be  done,  right  here,  during  our  cold  Minne- 
sota winters,  with  the  proper  care,  housing  and  food.  I 
have  been  mostly  concerned  in  producing  strong,  fertile 
eggs  for  myself  and  my  customers  after  the  first  of  Janu- 
ary, and,  while  in  some  years  eggs  will  be  better  than  in 
others,  I  have  never  had  very  much  trouble  in  accomplish- 
ing that  result. 

My  methods  are  very  simple  and  right  here  let  me  say 
that  I  do  not  believe  in  using  a  lot  of  patent,  so-called 
''egg  foods."  I  do  not  doctor  my  fowls  very  much  and  do 
not  have  to.  I  feed  good  whole  grain  which  is  always  thrown 
in  deep  litter,  with  occasionally  a  mash  of  ground  food 
and  steamed  cut  clover.  After  the  grass  is  gone  and  hens 
and  pullets  are  taken  from  their  range  in  the  fall,  it  is  nec- 
essary to  provide  a  goodly  supply  of  green  food  in  some 
form.  We  are  using  for  this  purpose,  sugar  beets,  cabbages, 
turnips,  onions,  small  potatoes  and  even  the  peelings  from 
the  vegetables  and  apples  used  in  the  kitchen. 

If  eggs  are  the  only  object,  I  should  say  feed  this  mash 
every  evening  an  hour  or  so  before  dark.  Let  them  have  all 
they  will  eat  up  clean  and  remove  the  troughs  after  the 
fowls  have  gone  on  the  roosts  at  night.  For  the  morning  feed 
there  is  nothing  like  whole  oats  in  deep  scratching  litter. 


58  EGG  MONEY 

At  noon  give  a  small  feed  of  whole  wheat  and  about  twice 
a  week  this  may  be  changed  to  whole  or  cracked  corn. 
Barley  may  be  substituted  for  oats  part  of  the  time,  if  de- 
sired, but  the  birds  do  not  take  to  it  quite  as  well.  Green 
ground  bone  should  be  fed  about  twice  a  week,  or,  if  that 
is  not  obtainable,  beef  scraps  should  be  before  them  all  the 
time.  It  is  of  course  absolutely  necessary  to  supply  them 
with  grit  and  oyster  shell,  or  its  equivalent,  and  pure  water 
at  all  times.  My  fowls  also  get  all  the  milk  they  will  con- 
sume every  other  day. 

My  houses  are  built  on  the  continuous  laying  house  plan, 
the  pens  are  from  eight  by  ten  to  twelve  by  fourteen  feet 
in  area,  some  are  double  boarded  and  stuffed  with  wild  hay, 
sides  and  ceiling;  others  have  tarred  paper  with  drop  siding 
on  outside,  and  patent  lath,  plastered  on  the  inside.  All 
have  earth  floors  with  stone  or  concrete  foundations  ex- 
tending into  the  ground  from  eight  to  twelve  inches.  Every- 
thing is  kept  as  clean  as  we  can  keep  it.  All  the  houses 
are  whitewashed  inside,  and  the  roosts,  etc.,  are  sprayed 
with  lico  killer  once  a  week.  The  houses  all  face  the  south 
and  the  windows  are  open  whenever  the  weather  will  per- 
mit. No  male  birds  are  allowed  with  the  hens  until  I  am 
ready  to  save  eggs  for  hatching  and  mate  up  the  breeding 
pens  in  February. 


Supper  by  Lantern  Light  is  a  Feature  of  this  Method. 

By  M.  W.  Baldwin. 

I  will  own  up  right  now  that  specializing  for  winter  eggs 
is  not  in  my  line;  at  the  same  time  I  generally  put  aside 
one  pen  for  fresh  eggs  and  from  that  pen  always  get  what 
I'm  after.  This  particular  pen  is  generally  made  up  of  a 
lot  of  early  hatched  pullets,  and  occasionally  a  few  hens  of 
pronounced  laying  ability.  The  house  they  occupy  is  about 
the  poorest  in  my  establishment,  but  is  patched  up  for  win- 
ter so  that  it  is  free  from  drafts,  and  their  roosting  quarters 
are  double-walled,  papered  and  curtained,  so  they  sleep 
warm.      During  the  day  they  have  the  run  of  a  big,  dry 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS  5» 

room  with  loose  dust  floor,  bedded  about  a  foot,  or  niore, 
deep  with  alfalfa;  into  this  litter  is  scattered  grain  and  grit. 
Every  night  after  I  have  had  my  supper  and  enjoyed  a 
cigar,  we  go  the  rounds.  Our  pen  of  layers  gets  a  late  sup- 
per of  warm  corn,  and  twice  a  week  a  good  feed  of  raw 
beef  (beef  lungs);  they  also  get  a  drink  of  w^ater  that  has 
had  the  chill  taken  off. 

Anyone  who  has  not  tried  this  night  method  of  feeding, 
will  doubt  its  usefulness;  but  if  you  wait  and  consider  the 
long  night  and  the  short  day  you  will  see  how  very  neces- 
sary an  extra  meal  is,  and  it  will  astonish  you  how  quickly 
the  birds  learn  to  watch  for  the  lantern.  In  fact  they  are 
generally  off  the  perch  and  waiting  my  coming  long  before 
I  get  to  their  quarters.  Another  great  advantage  is  that 
the  birds  get  to  be  remarkably  tame,  and  the  egg  poulterer 
knows  what  that  means.  If  I'm  short  of  accommodations 
for  males  I  allow  one  in  that  pen,  but  always  thought 
that  the  hens  laid  l^etter  without  the  company  of  a  chanti- 
cleer than  with  one. 

As  to  what  I  feed  I  can  give  no  formula,  for  I  have  to 
depend  on  the  feed  store,  but  I  give  all  the  variety  that  is 
possible,  making  wheat  the  staple.  I  feed  no  mashes  or 
condiments. 

Watering  is  the  hardest  problem,  for  even  in  my  double 
walled,  plastered  houses,  drinking  founts  freeze;  the  birds 
are  given  a  drink  at  noon  and  get  a  good  drink  again  at 
night,  but  I  am  hoping  that  some  clever  person  will  devise 
a  simple  but  serviceable  drinking  fount  that  can  be  heated 
sufficiently  to  keep  the  drinks  from  freezing  in  our  coldest 
weather. 

80  for  winter  eggs,  I  allow  plenty  of  room  and  light,  a 
warm  sleeping  place,  an  extra  feed  by  lamplight,  and  a 
social  chat  of  course.  Have  kept  no  records  in  late  years 
of  what  my  egg  pen  does  for  mo  during  the  winter;  but 
a  dozen  pullets  will,  I  believe,  average  prett}^  close  to  seven 
eggs  a  day,  handled  this  way.  We  manage  to  get  along 
without  buying  any  eggs  all  winter,  and  I  really  prefer 
that  my  stock  birds  reserve  their  energies  for  spring  busi- 
ness. A  hen  that  will  lay  150  eggs  in  160  days  during  the 
spring  and  early  summer  is  much  more  valuable  to  me  than. 


60  EGG  MONEY 

one  that  lays  30  eggs  in  60  da3^s  during  winter  and  keeps 
up  much  the  same  gait  during  the  rest  of  the  year. 

Warm  Houses  and  Good  Feeding  Make  Hens  Lay  in  Cold 

Weather. 
By  S.  V.  Johns. 

I  give  my  birds  the  best  of  care  during  September  and 
October;  I  feed  oil  meal  and  crushed  sunflower  seed  during 
the  molting  season,  but  no  meat  of  any  kind,  and  I  let 
my  hens  rest  while  molting.  After  the  molting  is  over  I 
feed  during  the  month  of  November,  in  the  morning,  a 
warm  mash  of  corn,  oats  and  bran,  ground,  ^^dth  a  little  of 
some  good  prepared  poultry  food  and  some  beef  scraps. 
During  the  middle  of  the  day  I  feed  plenty  of  cabbage,  and 
in  the  evening  I  feed  wheat  which  puts  their  blood  in  good 
condition  and  improves  their  flesh. 

During  the  winter  we  feed  wheat  for  breaKfast  which 
is  thrown  in  a  litter  of  straw,  a  foot  thick,  in  the  scratch- 
ing shed  and  the  work  of  scratching  it  out  keeps  the  fowls 
warm.  I  hang  a  head  of  cabbage  in  each  pen  of  twenty 
birds.  I  use  a  green  bone  cutter  and  give  them  green 
cut  bone  three  times  a  week.  For  the  evening  meal  I 
give  a  httle  shelled  corn.  We  have  used  these  methods  for 
years  and  have  alwaj^s  had  eggs  to  sell  all  winter  and  the 
birds  have  always  been  healthy. 

Some  may  desire  to  know  about  the  construction  of  n\y 
poultr}^  house.  It  was  built  with  a  shed  roof  having  a  three 
foot  pitch.  The  outside  of  the  frame  work  is  covered  with 
tar-paper,  with  drop-siding  to  the  weather.  Tar-paper  is 
also  placed  on  the  inside  of  the  frame  work  and  ceiled  over 
with  boards.  The  roof  is  covered  with  rough  boards,  then 
with  a  layer  of  tar-paper  and  shingled,  the  shingles  being 
laid  five  inches  to  the  weather.      Board  floors  are  used. 


Methods  That  Make  Winners  and  Layers  in  South  Dakotaw 
By  A.  J.  Keith. 

My  winter  laying  house  is  ver}^  warm,  boarded  on  inside 
and  outside  of  the  studding.      There  is  tar-paper  on  the 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS  61 

outside  which  is  in  tiirii  covered  with,  matched  siding  and 
well  painted.  The  house  faces  south,  has  plenty  of  light, 
storm  door  and  storm  windows.  A  five-foot  board  plat- 
form extends  in  the  north  side  of  the  house  from  east  to 
west.  This  is  screened  in,  the  nests  rest  upon  it  and  the 
eggs  are  gathered  without  going  among  the  birds.  The 
roosts  are  one  and  one-half  feet  above  the  floor  of  the  coop 
and  under  the  platform,  with  droppings  board  under  the 
roosts  which  is  kept  clean  and  has  fine  ashes  frequently 
scattered  on  it.      The  dirt  floor  is  cleaned  once  a  week  and 


Buildings   of  a   Village  Poultry   Keeper  who   Secures  Enough  Profit  to 
Pay  the  Family's  Meat  and  Grocery  Bills. 

fresh  straw  put  in  to  the  depth  of  nine  inches,  making  a 
fine  scratching  place.  Once  r.  week  a  mixture  of  kerosene, 
napthaline  flakes  and  crude  carbolic  acid  is  sprayed  on 
roosts,  droppings  boards  and  walls.  Twenty-below-zero 
weather  outside  will  not  freeze  water  w^here  the  birds  roost. 
The  morning  feed  is  oats  scattered  in  litter.  About 
twice  a  week  a  hot  mash  of  boiled  potatoes,  vegetables, 
bran,  shorts  and  barley  flour,  occasionally  seasoned  with 
salt  and  pepper,  is  fed.  At  noon  I  feed  a  light  feed  of 
wheat  scattered  in  the  litter.  Ground  fresh  bone  is  given 
three  times  a  week,  about  two  and  one  half  ounces  a  week 
per  bird.  At  evening  I  feed  either  wheat,  barley  or  corn 
and  on  very  cold  nights  a  hot  mash,  same  as  described  for 
feeding  in  the  morning,  but  never  two  hot  mashes  on  the 
same  day.  Occasionally  the  corn  is  fed  warm.  Charcoal, 
shells  and  grit  are  kept  before  the  birds  always.      Cabbages 


^2  EGG  MONEY 

-are  hung  from  the  ceiUng  where  the  birds  are  obUged  to 
jump  to  reach  them. 

In  cold  weather  the  birds  are  allowed  to  run  out  but 
little  and  then  only  during  the  middle  of  the  day  and  in 
yards  with  board  protection  on  north.  I  sometimes  give 
them  w^arm  water  early  in  the  morning.  The  amount  of 
food  fed  varies  according  to  condition  of  each  pen.  Ven- 
tilation is  important:  I  use  openings  at  the  top  of  the  coop 
and  also  at  the  bottom. 

Under  the  above  ration  and  treatment,  eight  o'clock  on 
a  tw^enty-below-zero  morning  will  often  find  75  per  cent 
of  the  birds  on  the  nests  doing  their  duty.  Last  February 
I  mated  one  pen  and  commenced  saving  eggs  on  the  twen- 
tieth. The  first  of  March  1  sent  116  eggs  to  Minnesota. 
These  eggs  were  gathered  twice  a  day  for  the  temperature 
was  below  zero  all  the  time;  108  eggs  were  reported  fertile. 
The  warmth  of  the  coop  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  the 
eggs  were  not  chilled. 

I  might  say  that  each  year  I  cull  very  closely,  keeping 
only  the  best  shaped  young  liirds  for  layers  and  those  of  the 
old  ones  that  have  proved  layers  as  pullets. 

Vigilant  care  and  kind  treatment  bring  a  high  percentage 
of  eggs  each  day. 

A  Laying  Strain  and  Good  Care  are  Necessary  for  Success — 
Lice  Spoil  the  Profits. 
By  Mrs.  M.  E.  Ellison. 

In  order  to  succeed  in  this  work  there  are  certain  things 
that  must  be  right.  First,  the  person  that  has  the  care  ot 
the  fowls;  second,  the  fowls;  third,  the  houses;  fourth,  the 
foods.  To  begin  with,  a  person  that  does  not  love  our 
feathered  friends  had  better  find  some  other  occupation,  as 
the  birds  very  soon  know  who  their  friends  are. 

I  do  not  think  there  is  as  much  difference  in  the  breeds 
of  fowls  as  in  the  strain.  So.be  sure  you  have  a  laying 
strain;  one  that  has  been  bred  that  way.  Get  them  hatched 
early  so  they  will  be  well  matured  and  ready  for  business 
before  cold  weather  sets  in.  I  keep  Buff  Rocks  and  Single 
Comb  Buff  Leghorns  and  find  that  March  and  April  hatched 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS  63 

Rocks  are  the  ones  that  make  the  winter  layers  pf  that 
breed.  The  Leghorns  are  all  right  hatched  in  April  and 
May  as  they  mature  sooner.  Keep  them  growing,  do  not 
let  them  get  stunted  for  they  never  fully  recover  from  it. 

I  have  never  found  it  difficult  to  get  eggs  in  winter. 
When  I  have  done  my  part,  as  I  should,  biddie  has  always 
done  hers.  I  know  when  I  am  not  bringing  in  the  much 
desired  basket  of  eggs  that  some  of  the  necessary  ration 
has  been  neglected.  A  hen  can  no  more  lay  eggs  without 
the  necessary  material  for  their  production  than  a  cow 
■can  give  milk  if  fed  on  dry  hay  alone. 

Look  well  to  what  you  feed,  and  how  you  feed  it,  and 
watch  results.  1  have  had  very  satisfactory  results  from 
the  following  method  of  feeding  during  the  short  cold  days 
in  winter.  At  about  three  P.  M.,  I  feed  warm  grain  which 
is  principally  wheat,  with  barley  and  corn  at  times  for  a 
change,  in  sufficient  quantity  to  answer  for  supper  and 
early  breakfast.  Then  about  nine  A.  j\L  they  get  a,  warm 
luncheon,  which  consists  of  one-fourth  cut  clover,  scalded 
and  steamed  over  night,  one  eighth  corn  meal;  one  eighth 
shorts,  one  fourth  cut  vegetables.  One  fourth  grcon  bone, 
ground,  goes  with  this  three  times  a  week;  the  oth^r  'hroc 
days  I  add  enough  shorts,  corn  meal  and  bran  uo  ^r.ke  ii;S 
place  and  moisten  with  milk  if  I  have  it,  if  no!;,  water.  I 
make  it  crumbly,  not  soft.  Sundays  this  is  omivjod  and  a 
variety  of  grain  takes  its  place.  This  to  shorten  as  much 
as  may  be  the  time  required  to  do  the  work  ^f  caring  for 
the  flock  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  and  omitting'  the 
mash  seems  to  have  no  bad  effect. 

There  are  many  little  details  in  the  care  of  the  biddies 
that  must  not  be  neglected;  see  to  it  that  they  are  free  from 
vermin  that  worry  and  torment  them  if  allowed  to  live; 
you  cannot  have  many  eggs  and  lice  at  the  same  time.  Give 
them  plenty  of  clean  water  with  the  chill  taken  off,  all  the 
grit,  oyster  shell  and  charcoal  they  want.  All  grain  should 
be  fed  in  a  litter;  straw  or  leaves  are  excellent  for  this  ma- 
terial. They  need  exercise  or  they  will  get  fat  and  lazy. 
Last  but  not  least,  are  the  houses.  They  need  not  be  ex- 
pensive, but  warm  and  comfortable,  with  plenty  of  sunlight 
and  fresh  air^  but  no  drafts.      Do  not  make  the  mistake  of 


64  EGG  MONEY 

crowding  one  hundred  inio  a  coop  on  y  large  enough  for 
fifty. 


Feeding  for  Winter  Eggs  is  a  Simple  Problem — Proper  Food, 
Exercise  and  Warm  Drinking  Water  Are  the  Features. 
By  W.  F.  Mautz. 

The  high  prices  that  are  paid  for  eggs  throughout  the 
Northwest  during  the  winter  months,  make  an  inducement 
for  every  owner  of  a  flock  of  fowls  to  endeavor  to  get  as 
many  as  possible.  To  do  this,  the  fowls  must  be  of  a 
strain  that  are  bred  to  lay,  just  as  Jersey  cattle  are  bred 
to  increase  the  yield  of  milk,  and  fast  horses  are  bred 
for  increased  speed.  This  can  be  done  only  by  carefully 
selecting  as  breeders  your  best  winter  layers,  of  good  shape, 
size  and  color,  and  mating  them  with  vigorous,  well  devel- 
oped sons  of  your  very  best  winter  layers.  A  permanent 
increase  in  the  egg  yield  will  be  observed  when  this  method 
of  breeding  is  followed. 

Feeding  for  winter  eggs  is  not  the  complicated  work  some 
would  have  us  believe,  in  fact  it  is  very  simple,  if  certain 
rules  are  observed,  and  we  have  found  it  just  as  easy  to 
feed  along  scientific  lines  as  to  feed  in  a  haphazard  sort 
of  way.  The  morning  feed  consists  of  two  parts  oats 
and  one  part  wheat  which  is  well  scattered  in  litter  about 
a  foot  deep;  this  is  done  in  the  evening  after  the  fowls  have 
gone  to  roost,  so  as  to  be  ready  for  them  as  soon  as  they 
care  to  go  to  work  in  the  morning,  our  object  being  to  make 
them  work  for  every  kernel  that  they  get.  This  gives  ^ 
them  plenty  of  exercise  which  is  very  necessary  in  winter 
when  the  fowls  are  kept  in  confinement  more  or  less.  At 
noon  we  feed  a  mash  which  is  made  up  of  ground  oats,  bran ^ 
shorts  and  wheat  middlings;  for  green  food  we  use  cut 
clover  about  one-fourth  in  bulk,  which  is  thoroughly  steamed 
for  several  hours,  after  which  it  is  all  mixed  into  a  mash 
to  which  is  added  enough  salt  to  season  it  and  hot  water 
enough  to  make  a  dry  crumbly  mash,  not  sloppy.  All 
table  and  all  vegetable  scraps  go  into  this  mash,  enough 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS 


65 


of  .which  is  fed  so  that  they  eat  it  up  clean  in  fifteen  to 
twenty  minutes.  In  addition  to  this  mash  we  feed  barley 
well  shaken  into  the  litter  to  make  them  work  for  it  so  as  to- 
give  them  plenty  of  exercise  to  digest  the  mash. 

We  watch  our  litter  very   carefully,   and   if  upon  ex- 


A   Sectiuu   ui    lL'-    i''_L.ii..^.    :_'j'_.i;_    '-'i    \\  -    l'\    Muuiz,    Described   in   the 
Accompanying  Article. 

amination  we  find  any  grain  upon  the  floor  we  feed  less, 
and  if  none  is  found  we  feed  heavier,  but  do  not  pay  any 
attention  to  it  if  we  find  any  grain  under  the  litter  after 
the  evening  meal,  as  it  is  our  intention  to  send  the  fowls 
to  roost  with  full  crops.  In  the  evening  before  they  go  to 
roost  we  feed  wheat  well  shaken  into  the  litter,  all  that 
they  w^ill  eat.  A  hen  in  order  to  produce  eggs  in  winter 
must  be  fed  enough  to  make  up  the  wear  and  tear  of  the 
body  and  have  something  left  for  the  production  of  eggs. 
We  do  not  believe  in  over  feeding  neither  do  we  believe 
in  starving  them;   smy  person   accjuainted   with  his  flock 


66  EGG  MONEY 

can  tell  at  a  glance  upon  entering  the  yards  about  what 
food  they  will  require.  Cabbages  are  hung  up  for  them 
to  pick  at  and  fine  chopped  potatoes  are  fed  raw;  beef 
scraps,  granulated  bone,  charcoal,  oyster  shell,  bran  and 
grit  are  always  kept  before  them  in  hoppers  and  during 
cold  weather  plenty  of  warm  water  is  furnished  them  fre- 
quently. We  wish  to  lay  special  emphasis  on  this  for  we 
find  when  we  analyze  an  egg  that  a  good  sized  hen's  egg 
weighs  About  two  ounces,  and  is  about  64  parts  water  and 
in  order  to  produce  eggs,  a  fowl  must  have  the  material 
necessary.  As  it  is  necessary  to  gather  the  eggs  quite 
often  during  the  severe  cold  weather  to  prevent  freezing 
the  attendant  collecting  the  eggs  always  carries  warm 
water  to  replenish  any  fountains  that  are  dry,  or  are  be- 
ginning to  freeze.  Rock  salt  is  also  before  the  fowls  where 
they  can  get  at  it  at  will,  and  right  here  let  me  say  that  I 
consider  it  just  as  necessary  to  supply  your  fowls  with  salt 
as  it  is  to  supply  any  other  live  stock. 

This  is  the  method  of  feeding  that  was  followed  the  past 
winter,  and  we  were  successful  in  having  our  egg  basket 
well  filled  during  the  severest  winter  weather.  This  winter 
we  feed  in  much  the  same  manner.  For  the  morning  meal 
we  take  equal  parts  of  wheat,  oats  and  barley,  at  noOn 
mixture  of  wheat,  oats,  kaffir  corn,  cracked  corn,  millet 
and  buckwheat,  and  the  evening  meal  consists  of  small 
cracked  corn.  For  the  mash  we  use  one  of  the  prepared 
mash  foods  made  by  a  reliable  poultry  supply  house,  to 
which  is  added  all  of  the  table  and  vegetable  scraps,  also 
steamed  cut  clover. 

Our  la3'ing  houses  are  shed  roof  structures  well  built, 
seven  feet  high  in  the  front  and  four  feet  high  in  the  rear, 
facing  the  south,  with  a  board  floor,  divided  into  pens 
eight  by  sixteen  feet,  by  board  and  wire  netting  parti- 
tions, two  pens  to  a  house.  These  pens  will  each  accommo- 
date a  flock  of  twenty-five  fowls  and  keep  them  comfortable. 
The  roof  is  made  of  a  good  grade  of  matched  lumber,  which 
is  covered  with  a  good  grade  of  prepared  roofing.  There 
are  four  window^s  in  the  front  of  each  pen  with  the  lower 
sash  stationary  and  the  upper  sash  hung  with  hinges  at 
the  top  so  that  the  sash  will  swing  out  below  for  ventila- 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS  67 

tion;  the  doors  are  placed  beneath  the  windows,  and  near 
the  floor;  they  are  three  by  five  feet,  hung  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  windows  so  they  will  swing  out  below  and 
make  a  shelter  or  awning;  this  enables  us  to  air  the 
house  (even  with  strong  wind  from  the  south,  the  wind  is 
hardly  noticeable  in  the  house)  and  permits  the  fowls  to 
pass  in  and  out  from  the  house  at  pleasure.  The  roosts  are 
all  removable  so  as  to  facilitate  the  cleaning  of  the  dropping 
boards,  which  are  cleaned  daily,  and  the  fight  against  ver- 
min, for  keeping  the  house  clean  is  a  very  essential  thing. 
The  nest  boxes  are  placed  below  the  dropping  boards, 
with  a  hinged  door  in  the  front  which  drops  down,  through 
which  the  eggs  are  gathered,  the  fowls  entering  the  nest 
boxes  from  behind.  A  muslin  curtain  is  hung  in  front  of 
the  roosts  which  can  be  let  down  during  the  night  in  severe 
cold  weather.  We  also  have  curtains  on  the  inside  of  the 
hinged  sash  which  can  be  used  when  necessary;  one  or 
both  of  the  sash  in  each  pen  are  kept  partly  open  when  it 
is  not  too  stormy,  and  this  in  connection  with  the  curtains 
gives  us  a  well  ventilated  house  and  one  in  which  fowls  will 
thrive. 


"Separate  the  Sexes,  Provide  Meat  and  Green  Foods  and 

Plenty  of  Sunlight,"  is  the  Advice  of  Mr.  Bates. 

By  R.  Q.  Bates. 

Most  people,  who  keep  poultry,  desire  a  liberal  quantity 
of  eggs,  especially  in  winter  when  the  price  is  high.  In 
order  to  obtain  the  best  results  get  birds  from  a  good  lay- 
ing strain,  as  they  have  the  qualities  bred  in  them.  After 
the  second  laying  season,  a  female's  most  profitable  age 
is  over  and  she  should  then  make  room  for  the  younger 
stock.  As  soon  as  the  cockerels  get  old  enough  to  annoy 
the  pullets  they  ought  to  be  separated  until  the  breeding 
season  commences,  as  they  annoy  the  females  ^which  will 
not  la}^  as  well  as  when  separated.  The  old  males  will 
probably  fight  if  penned  together,  or  with  the  cockerels, 
and  any  valuable  birds  should  be  penned  separately. 

Next  in  importance  is  the  food.  Fowls  will  not  thrive  on 
an  unvaried  diet,  they  must  have  a  variety.  There  are  any 
number  of  good  grains   which  can  be  fed,  for  example: 


68  EGG  MONEY 

wheat,  corn  (cracked),  oats,  barley,  rye  and  millet.  You 
can  also  feed  buckwheat,  sunflower  seeds,  peas  and  beans 
and  also  rice  for  a  change.  Give  them  all  they  will  eat 
readily;  circumstances  alter  the  amount. 

Besides  grain,  the  fowls  need  green  and  animal  food. 
For  the  latter  prepared  beef  scraps  can  be  used  and  should 
be  before  them  at  all  times  in  hoppers.  Table  scraps 
are  also  good  and  milk  in  any  form  is  excellent  but  if  very 
sour  it  should  be  sweetened  with  a  little  common  soda. 

For  green  food,  clover  hay  is  good;  some  people  steam 
it  before  using,  while  others  feed  it  in  the  natural  condi- 
tion. Dried  lawn  clippings  are  a  good  substitute  for  the 
clover  hay.  Cabbage  or  beets  are  good  for  a  change  and 
now  and  then  chopped  onions  will  be  relished. 

Be  liberal  with  the  water,  have  it  fresh  and  warm  it 
slightly  in  very  cold  weather.  Sharp  grit  and  oyster  shells 
are  very  essential  and  should  be  kept  before  them  always. 
The  former  is  for  digestive  purposes  and  the  latter  to  sup- 
ply material  for  egg-shells.  Charcoal  is  very  good  as  a 
bowel  regulator  and  blood  purifier  and  can  be  fed  in  hop- 
pers constantly. 

Always  feed  the  grain  in  a  litter  of  straw,  hay,  leaves  or 
chaff  which  ought  to  be  found  in  every  poultry  house  and 
should  be  changed  whenever  it  gets  dirty.  The  exercise 
obtained  by  the  fowls  scratching  for  the  grain  will  help  to 
keep  them  warm  and  will  also  fit  them  for  laying  by  work- 
ing off  the  surplus  flesh,  besides  being  a  help  to  the  S5"stem 
generall}^ 

The  house  should  be  moderately  warm,  but  I  do  not  be- 
lieve in  artificial  heat.  Don't  be  afraid  that  you  are  going 
to  freeze  everything  if  you  leave  the  windows  partly  open 
for  a  little  while.  Never  allow  the  drafts  to  blow  on  the 
fowls  as  they  are  disastrous  to  the  health  of  the  birds. 
This  can  be  prevented  by  having  a  cloth  window  which  ought 
to  be  taken  out  when  the  sun  is  bright  and  warm.  After 
all  the  sun  is  one  of  the  best  tonics. 

Never  crowd  fowls  or  they  will  not  lay  well  and  will  be 
liable  to  many  diseases.  Each  bird  ought  to  have  at  least 
four  square  feet  of  floor  space  and  five  or  six  is  better  if 
you  have  the  room.      Have  plenty  of  sunlight  in  all  parts 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS  69 

and  corners.      Be  sure  and  have  the  windows  low  enough  so 
that  the  birds  can  have  a  sun  bath. 

Save  some  of  the  common  road  dust  in  summer  for  the 
dust  bath  for  it  will  tend  to  keep  the  birds  free  from  lice. 
Last,  but  not  least,  keep  everything  clean.  Clean  out  the 
houses  as  frequently  as  possible.  Keep  the  water  dish 
washed  and  scald  it  once  in  a  while.  Dust  the  birds  oc- 
•casionally  with  a  good  lice  powder,  for  an  ounce  of  preven- 
tive   is    worth    a    pound    of    cure. 


Good  Houses,  Adequate  Ventilation,  Good  Food  and  Enough 

of  it,  Make  Healthy,  Profitable  Fowls. 

By  F.  H.  Williams. 

Having  been  asked  to  explain  in  detail  my  method  of 
housing,  caring  for  and  feeding  my  Cornish  and  White 
Indians  for  winter  eggs,  I  will  describe  one  of  the  houses 
first.  In  size  it  is  24  x  12,  eight  feet  high  in  front,  and 
six  in  the  rear.  This  house  is  built  on  a  solid  cement 
foundation,  raised  one  foot  above  the  ground,  has  a  smooth 
cement  floor  making  it  absolutely  rat  proof.  The  walls 
are  made  of  rough  boards,  tar  paper  and  drop  siding  out- 
side of  2  X  4  uprights;  on  the  inside  it  is  Hned  with  tar 
paper  and  sealed  with  matched  lumber,  leaving  a  four- 
inch  dead  air  space  between  the  walls.  This  makes  the 
building  absolutely  wind  proof  and  free  from  drafts. 

The  front  has  four  large  windows  six  feet  apart  made 
of  two  sashes  of  six  lights  each,  the  lower  sash  being  fitted 
so  it  can  be  raised  or  lowered.  Above  each  window  is  an 
air  space  eight  inches  high  and  the  width  of  the  window, 
covered  with  white  muslin.  These  are  open  both  night 
and  day.  Covering  the  lower  sash  of  each  window  is 
another  piece  of  muslin  securely  tacked  to  the  sash  frame 
except  one  corner  which  can  be  folded  back.  During 
the  day,  the  lower  sash  is  raised,  the  corner  of  muslin  pulled 
up  and  pinned  and  I  have  a  muslin  front  house.  The 
fowls  go  in  and  out  through  the  window,  over  the  sill,  except 
on  stormy  or  extra  cold  days,  when  the  muslin  is  not  raised, 
although  the  window  is.      At  night  the  windows  are  closed 


70  EGG  MONEY 

and  ventilation  is  provided  by  the  openings  over  each  win- 
dow. Roosts  are  placed  at  the  extreme  back.  No  drop- 
ping broads  are  used  as  I  consider  them  an  inducement  for 
laziness  on  the  part  of  whoever  takes  care  of  the  birds. 
Partitions  are  of  wire,  except  two  feet  at  the  bottom,  which 
is  of  boards,  to  keep  males  and  obstreperous  hens  from 
fighting. 

Along  the  entire  length  of  the  building,  at  the  top  of 
the  back  wall,  are  single  coops  for  training  quarters  for 
show  birds  and  surplus  males.  Underneath  these  coops 
are  the  roosts,  made  of  two  four  by  fours,  with  the  edges 
rounded.  Nest  boxes  are  arranged  along  the  sides  of  the 
pens,  as  are  also  water  cans  and  feed,  oyster  shell,  char- 
coal and  grit  boxes.  Dust  boxes,  good  and  deep,  are 
also  provided.  Absolute  cleanliness  is  the  rule.  All 
scratching  material,  which  is  deep  in  the  pens,  is  removed 
once  a  week  and  the  floors,  roosts,  coops  and  sides  of  pens 
are  sprinkled  or  sprayed  with  a  good  lice  killing  and  dis- 
infecting liquid.  New  litter  consisting  of  oat-straw,  tim- 
othy hay  siftings,  and-  a  bushel  basketful  of  tobacco  stems 
is  placed  in  each  pen.  -  Whitewash  is  used  as  needed.  The 
same  treatment  is  given  the  two  other  houses,  one  with 
a  dirt  floor,  the  other  with  board  floor.  It  is  needless 
to  say  that  there  are  no  lice  or  mites  about  the  premises. 

In  feeding,  dry  bran  is  before  the  birds  in  self  feeders 
at  all  times,  so  they  can  help  themselves.  Bran  I  con- 
sider one  of  the  very  best  of  foods  and  one  would  be  sur- 
prised at  the  large  quantity  consumed.  The  morning  feed 
consists  of  oats  and  millet  scattered  in  the  litter  the  night 
before  and  buried  deep.  This  keeps  them  busy  until  I 
return  from-  the  office  at  noon,  when  table  scraps,  fresh 
cut  beef  scraps  and  a  little  wheat  and  cracked  corn  is  fed. 
At  night  whole  corn  is  the  meal  and  the  birds  go  to  bed 
with  full  crops.  A  mash  consisting  of  bran,  ^.ornmeal 
and  a  little  linseed  oil  is  fed  occasionally,  but  not  often 
as  I  much  prefer  the  dry  feed.  Cabbage  is  the  prin- 
cipal green  food  and  a  head  is  almost  always  in  each  pen, 
stuck  on  a  spike  just  high  enough  to  make  the  fowls  jump 
for  it.  Fresh  cut  bone  is  also  fed  three  times  a  week.  I  have 
no  certain  amount  of  grain  to  feed,  but  if  the  birds  seem 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS 


71 


to  have  a  little  keener  appetite  than  usual,  they  get  more. 
I  find  feeding  this  way  that  the  fowls  are  always  in  good 
condition  being  neither  too  fat  nor  too  lean,  seem  to  be 
contented,  always  singing,  making  the  litter  fly  and  laying 
a  good  supply  of  eggs  right  through  the  winter. 

This  system  might  not  do  with  some  breeds,  but  with 
the  Cornish  and  White  Indians,  I  find  it  O.  K.  Three 
things   are   necessary   to   the   welfare  of  any  breed   if   one 


A  Well  Built,  Double  Wall  House  Which  Could  not  be  Sufficiently  Ven- 
tilated to  Prevent  Dampness. 

expects  them  to  do  well,  and  these  are:  first,  absolute 
cleanliness;  second,  good  quarters;  third,  a  good,  generous 
supply  of  food  and  water,  grit,  oyster  shells  and  charcoal. 
I  firmly  believe  that  a  flock  of  hens  or  pullets  to  do  w^ell 
must  have  all  these.  If  they  have  the  food  they  want, 
you  will  hear  them  singing  their  little  song  almost  every 
day,  but  you  won't  if  your  flock  is  kept  half-starved  all 
day  until  just  before  dark.  The  members  of  the  human 
race  I  notice  want  their  food  regularly  and  enough  of  it 
and  I  think  our  dumb  animals  and  birds  have  just  that 


EGG  MONEY 


same  inclination.      Therefore  mine,  all  of  them,  dogs,  cats, 
horses  and  poultry,  always  have  enough. 


A  Heavy  Egg  Yield  is  Not  Difficult  to  Obtain. 
By  A.  B.  Williams. 

I  begin  in  September  to  prepare  my  hens  for  winter  lay- 
ing, first  I  shut  off  the  feed  from  the  old  hens  (only  give 
one  third  their  regular  feed)  for  two  weeks.  Then  I  feed 
heavy  for  a  spell,  to  start  all  the  hens  that  are  backward 
about  molting  to  molt;  that  gets  all  the  hens  in  good  shape 
to  start  laying  by  the  last  of  November.  By  that  time  the 
hens  are  all  housed  in  a  good  warm  house  with  plenty  of 
hay  and  straw  over  head,  so  that  frost  never  gathers.  I 
also  have  double  doors  and  windows;  they  do  not  know  it 
is  winter. 

I  feed  mostly  wnole  grain;  wheat,  barley  and  some  corn, 
with  a  supply  of  cabbage,  beets  and  small  potatoes  always 
on  hand.  The  fowls  are  seldom  allowed  out  on  the  frozen 
ground,  but  the  doors  have  screens  and  are  left  open  on  all 
bright  days,  which  keeps  the.  birds  in  good  health.  Pul- 
lets hatched  in  May  should  be  housed  in  their  winter  quar- 
ters before  Nov.  1st,  and  should  be  helping  to  fill  the  egg 
basket  all  winter.  Pullets  as  a  rule  lay  the  most  of  the 
winter  eggs,  if  looked  after  at  the  proper  time  in  the  fall. 

Make  your  poultry  house  warm  and  light,  feed  plenty  but 
don't  fatten  your  hens,  always  have  plenty  of  clean  water, 
don't  forget  to  furnish  good  grit  and  a  dusting  place 
in  winter,  and  you  will  have  plenty  of  eggs  in  the  coldest 
weather. 

Grit,  Shells  and  Vegetable  Foods  Are  Needed  by  Laying  Fowls 

— A  Good  Ration. 

By  R.  A.  Pike. 

In  writing  an  article  on  winter  egg  production  I  realize 
that  it  will  not  be  of  much  interest  to  poultrymen  who  are 
getting  a  satisfactory  number  of  eggs  from  their  fowls,  it 
will,  therefore,  be  of  help  only  to  those  who  are  not  getting 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS  73 

:as  many  eggs  as  they  should.  In  my  opinion  the  reason  for 
not  getting  winter  eggs  is  apt  to  be  over-feeding  and  lack 
of  information  as  to  the  egg  producing  qualities  of  foods. 
It  is  possible  for  a  poultry  man  to  give  his  fowls  plenty  of 
food  and  the  best  of  care,  yet  fail  to  obtain  winter  eggs. 

I  find  that  most  poultry  keepers  know  that  fresh  wat^r 
must  be  provided;  that  the  house  must  be  dry  and  free  from 
draughts;  that  lice  must  be  killed  and  the  house  and  prem- 
ises must  be  kept  clean  and  disinfected.  These  things  are 
generally  known  but  if  not  lived  up  to  the  balance  of  this 
article  will  be  of  little  value.  I  also  find  that  many  people 
do  not  know  that  both  grit  and  oyster  shells  should  be  be- 
fore the  fowls  at  all  times.  Many  think  that  one  takes  the 
place  of  the  other  or  that  if  sand  or  gravel  is  provided  only 
shells  are  required.  Grit  is  crushed  rock  about  the  size  of 
small  corn,  the  edges  are  sharp  and  good  grit  is  composed 
of  rock  that  remains  sharp  until  entirely  worn  away.  Grit 
is  the  hens'  false  teeth;  it  grinds  the  food  so  that  it  can  be 
digested  and  its  use  will  save  at  least  one  fourth  of  the  feed 
bill.  Gravel  does  not  take  the  place  of  grit  because  it  is 
round  and  does  not  cut  the  food,  sand  is  of  little  value,  even 
though  sharp,  for  it  is  so  fine  that  it  passes  through  the 
fowl  without  doing  the  work. 

Oyster  shells  are  fed  laying  hens  simply  to  furnish  lime 
for  making  egg  shells;  oyster  shells  dissolve  too  quickly  to 
make  good  grit  and  are  too  thin  to  do  good  grinding  even 
while  they  last.  Shells  are  mostl}^  carbonate  of  lime.  Dry 
bone  can  be  placed  before  the  old  and  young  stock  at  all 
times  as  it  is  largely  composed  of  phosphate  of  lime  which 
is  what  the  poultry  require  for  bone  building.  The  lime  in 
oyster  shells  is  different  from  that  in  bone  and  is  used  by 
the  fowls  for  a  different  purpose. 

Green  cut  bones  are  simply  fresh  bones  with  generally  a 
little  meat  on  them,  which  have  })een  run  through  a  bone 
cutter.  Green  cut  bone  has  all  the  value  of  dry  bone  and 
in  addition  is  a  great  egg  producer  and  flesh  builder  on  ac- 
count of  the  meat,  fat  and  marrow.  The  general  rule  for 
feeding  it  is  one  ounce  a  day  to  each  grown  fowl  or  two 
ounces  every  other  day.  When  fresh  bone  cannot  be  had, 
beef  scraps,  meat  meal  or  blood  meal  make  excellent  sub- 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS  75 

stitutes.  Hens  lay  best  in  the  spring  when  green  food  is 
plentiful  and  in  the  winter  either  alfalfa  meal  or  roots  of 
some  kind  should  be  given  at  least  every  other  day.  As  a 
regulator  and  blood  purifier  nothing  is  better  than  gran- 
ulated charcoal  and  it  is  not  expensive.  It  should  be  with- 
in reach  of  the  fowls  the  year  round.  Hens  lay  very  little 
while  molting.  Sunflower  seed  fed  every  other  day  dur- 
ing the  molt  will  furnish  the  oil  necessary  for  new  feathers, 
and  a  good  prepared  poultry  food  fed  each  day  in  slightly 
dampened  mash  will  give  the  fowls  the  strength  to  with- 
stand the  weakening  process  of  molting. 

The  main  food  for  poultry  is  whole  and  ground  grains 
and  seeds,  and  I  will  not  attempt  in  this  short  article  to  lay 
down  any  definite  rules  for  feeding,  but  will  give  my  method 
of  feeding  in  a  general  way.  First,  it  is  important  that 
quite  a  variety  of  grain  and  seeds  be  supplied,  for  fowls  as 
well  as  people  require  more  than  one  kind  of  food.  The 
proper  way  to  feed  grain  is  to  scatter  it  in  the  litter  so. that 
the  chickens  will  have  to  exercise  to  find  it.  Some  poultry- 
men  claim  to  get  best  results  by  feeding  only  dry  grain 
while  others  feed  a  mash  either  morning  or  night.  Person- 
ally I  prefer  scattering  millet  and  small  grain  in  the  litter 
in  the  morning  as  this  will  keep  the  fowls  busy  most  of  the 
day  and  the  exercise  will  warm  them  up  and  keep  them  in 
health.  At  noon  give  a  light  feed  of  green  cut  bone  and 
coarse  grain.  Just  before  roosting  time  feed  a  mash  com- 
posed of  one  fourth  alfalfa  meal,  one  fourth  bran,  one  fourth 
ground  oats  and  one  fourth  coarse  corn  meal.  Add  to  this 
your  table  scraps  and  a  little  prepared  poultry  food.  Feed 
only  what  will  be  cleaned  up  in  ten  or  fifteen  minutes.  In 
mixing  the  mash  scald  with  boiling  water  but  do  not  make 
it  sloppy.  The  mash  should  then  be  covered  and  allowed 
to  stand  until  cool  enaugh  to  feed.  I  would  only  feed  a  mash 
during  cold  weather  depending  on  grain  and  seeds  during 
the  warm  months.  ^ly  reason  for  feeding  mash  at  night  is 
that  it  warms  the  fowls  and  can  be  easily  digested  while 
they  are  at  roost. 

To  put  it  all  in  a  nut  shell,  provide  variety,  do  not  over- 
feed and  do  not  use  shrunken  grain  or  half  spoiled  food; 
if  you  want  eggs  that  are  sweet  and  of  good  flavor  use  the 


76  EGG  MONEY 

best  food  obtainable.      Your  little  account  book  will  tell  the 
story  at  the  end  of  the  year. 


Sunlight,  Pure  Air  and  Exercise  are  as  Necessary  as  Good 

Foods. 

By  A.  J.  Saterstrom, 

''How  do  you  manage  to  get  your  hens  to  lay  so  many 
€ggs  in  winter?"  is  a  question  frequently  put  to  us  by 
our  neighbors.  There  is  a  time  of  the  year  when  we  are 
all  planning  for  winter  eggs.  We  wish  to  give  a  few  hints 
along  our  experience  in  securing  them.  We  believe  most 
any  variety  or  breed  can  be  made  to  lay  in  winter  by  proper 
care  and  housing.  As  our  regular  business  allows  us  but 
limited  time  for  the  care  of  our  fowls  we  cannot  keep  a 
large  number;  we  expect  to  winter  about  one  hundred 
hens  each  winter. 

For  several  years  our  hens  would  not  yield  to  the  care 
we  gave  them  as  well  as  we  thought  they  should  and  we 
fmally  concluded  that  the  fault  was  with  the  house.  We 
built  the  house  from  the  best  material  and  employed  a 
good  carpenter,  but,  although  it  was  warm,  it  seemed 
dead  and  gloomy.  We  had  put  the  window^s  quite  a  way 
up  from  the  floor  and  ventilation  was  not  very  good.  So 
we  went  to  work  and  cut  the  windows  down  to  fifteen 
or  eighteen  inches  from  the  floor  and  made  them  twice 
the  former  size;  we  also  cut  a  hole  in  the  south  wall  twelve 
by  forty-eight  inches,  near  the  ceiling  and  made  two  flues, 
four  by  six  inches,  reaching  through  the  roof  and  ceiling  and 
down  to  within  ten  inches  of  the  floor.  That  made  excellent 
ventilation  and  w^e  now  have  a  house  wdth  plenty  of  sunlight 
in  it  as  well  as  a  constant  flow  of  fresh,  sweet  air. 

We  give  our  hens  fresh  water  in  the  morning,  leaving 
it  in  the  basins  until  next  morning,  when  the  basins  are 
cleaned  and  refilled.  We  keep  the  water  basin  so  that 
the  hens  cannot  step  into  or  soil  the  water  and  high  enough 
so  the  fowls  cannot  scratch  any  straw  into  it,  thus  keep- 
ing before  them  at  all  times  a  supply  of  clean  w^ater. 

We  use  no  artificial  heat  but  had  no  ice  on  the  water 
except   once   or  twice,   all   last  winter,  although   we   kept 


FEEDING  FOR  WINT-ER   EGGS  77 

the  twelve  by  forty-eight  space  in  the  wall  open  all  win- 
ter with  but  a  thickness  of  burlap  tacked  over  it. 

We  do  not  believe  in  soft  feed  in  this  climate.  We 
have  no  fixed  ration  but  feed  a  variety,  comprising  oats, 
wheat,  barley,  a  little  corn,  mangels,  cabbage,  rutabagas, 
clover  and  scraps  from  the  table.  At  times  we  feed  the 
grain  mixed  and  then  again  separate.  We  feed  three 
times  a  day,  usually  oats  in  the  morning,  wheat  at  noon 
and  barley  or  oats  and  corn  mixed  at  night.  We  also 
throw  in  some  millet  occasionall}^  AVe  feed  all  our  grain 
in  a  liberal  supply  of  straw  which  is  exchanged  for  clean 
as  soon  as  it  gets  dirty.  We  fed  green  cut  bone  or  meat 
scraps  two  or  three  times  a  week  and  some  charcoal.  We 
keep  grit  and  oyster  shell  always  before  the  fowls  as  well 
as  a  dust  bath  with  some  sulphur  sprinkled  in  it.  We 
never  use  any  medicines  or  condiments  as  we  very  seldom 
have  an  ailing  fowl,  and  when  we  do  we  use  the  hatchet. 
We  clean  the  dropping-boards  on  a  certain  day  every 
week. 

With  this  kind  of  care  we  get  a  goodly  number  of  eggs 
every  day  all  winter.  Lots  of  sunlight,  pure  air,  water, 
and  plenty  of  exercise,  together  with  plenty  of  food  in  a 
reasonable  variety  will  make  most  any  hens  lay  in  winter, 
provided  they  are  from  a  laying  strain.  Don't  be  afraid 
of  feeding  too  much  to  laying  hens;  it  requires  food  to 
make  eggs  but  be  sure  to  give  plenty  of  grit  and  avoid  too 
much  corn. 


Fresh  Air,  Exercise,  and  Cut  Green   Bone  are  Important 

Features  in  This  Poultryman's  Method. 

By  Alfred  A.  Ziemer. 

The  question  asked  by  poultrymen  at  this  season,  seems 
to  be,  ''How  shall  I  house,  feed  and  care  for  my  hens  to 
get  the  best  results  in  winter  eggs?"  When  cold  weather 
sets  in  eggs  are  high  in  price  and  some  people  wonder 
because  their  hens  don't  lay;  but  they  may  take  it  for 
granted  that  such  instances  are  always  the  results  of  wrong 


78  EGG  MONEY 

methods  of  housing,  feeding  and  caring  for  their  hens. 
I  have  always  found  that  when  the  poultryman  does  his 
part  and  cares  for  the  fowls  properly,  they  will  not  fail 
to  produce  plenty  of  winter  eggs. 

My  manner  of  housing,  feeding  and  caring  for  my  own 
flock  has  proved  very  successful.  My  houses  are  fifteen 
l)y  thirty  feet  in  size,  simple,  but  well  built  of  matched 
boards  covered  on  the  outside  with  prepared  roofing  and 
lined  with  tar-paper.  This  makes  a  very  tight,  w^arm 
house.  Two-inch  mesh  wire  netting  is  stretched  on  the  under 
side  of  the  rafters  and  the  space  between  the  roof  boards 
and  the  wire  is  packed  with  oat  straw  which  keeps  the 
house  warm  and  free  from  dampness.  Curtains  made  of 
muslin  are  drawn  at  night  in  front  of  the  roosts,  making  it 
comfortable  for  the  sleeping  fowls  during  cold  nights  and 
at  the  same  time  admitting  plenty  of  fresh  air  for  the  fowls 
to  breathe.  I  cover  the  ventilating  areas  and  the  win- 
dows with  same  material  to  cut  off  drafts  and  to  keep 
out  cold  winds.  This  muslin,  however,  does  not  prevent 
plenty  of  air  getting  into  the  house  and  I  consider  pure  air 
of  great  importance  as  a  means  of  preserving  the  health 
of  the  fowls.  Each  house  is  divided  in  three  parts  by 
wire  netting  partitions,  making  each  compartment  fifteen 
by  ten  feet  on  the  floor  and  sufficient  for  twenty  fowls. 
The  windows  are  on  the  south  side,  admitting  plenty  of 
sunshine,  which  is  better  for  the  fowls  than  medicine. 
A  dust  bath  is  provided  in  each  pen  and  the  roost  platforms 
are  cleaned  every  morning. 

In  the  morning  I  feed  oats,  wheat,  barley  and  some  kaf- 
fir  corn  and  other  small  seeds  scattered  in  chaff  which 
covers  the  floor.  This  encourages  the  bird  to  scratch  and 
thus  obtain  exercise,  which  is  very  needful  for  health  and 
productiveness,  and  neglecting  it  is  sufficient  cause  for  a 
lack  of  eggs  in  cold  weather.  As  man  must  earn  his  bread 
by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  or  he  will  not  appreciate  it,  so  the 
hen  that  does  not  have  to  hustle  for  her  food  will  not  have 
a  wholesome  relish  for  it. 

At  noon  my  fowls  receive  a  mash  of  bran,  ground  oats, 
barley  and  cooked  potatoes,  moistened  with  milk.  For  the 
evening  meal,  they  are  fed  shelled  corn,  oats  and  barley. 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS 


79 


I  want  to  say  a  word  in  favor  of  green  bone  for  laying  hens. 
J  believe  it  is  more  effective  as  an  egg  producer  than  any 
other  one  thing  that  can  be  fed.  Every  poultryman  whose 
desire  it  is  to  get   winter  eggs  should  not  fail  to  feed  it. 


One    of   the   Laying-  Houses   on   the    Poultry    Farm    of   A.    A.    Ziemer. 
Note  the  Small  Area  of  Glass. 

Cabbage  and  other  green  food  is  before  my  fowls  almost 
all  the  time  and  clover,  grit,  shells  and  charcoal  are  where 
the  fowls  can  reach  them  any  time.  Pure,  fresh  water  is 
provided  frequently.  Hens  cared  for  in  this  manner  will 
not  fail  to  produce  their  share  of  eggs  in  winter.  None 
of  our  varieties  of  Buffs  have  ever  failed  to  lay  a  liberal 
number  of  eggs  in  the  severest  weather.  Don't  expect 
your  hens  to  lay  well  unless  you  care  for  them  well. 


A  Combination  of  Mash  and  Dry  Grains  Makes  a 

Good  Ration. 

By  D.  W.  Harberts. 

My  method  of  caring  for  and  feeding  fowls  for  eggs  in 
winter  is  as  follows:  I  have  my  houses  warm  and  per- 
fectly dry  and  large  enough  so  there  will  be  no  crowding. 


80  EGG  MONEY 

The  windows  are  arranged  so  that  the  birds  receive  the  ben- 
efit of  the  sun  the  greater  part  of  the  day.  I  have  a  large 
scratching  room,  where  they  have  plenty  of  room  for  ex- 
ercise, which  I  fill  with  straw  or  leaves  to  the  depth  of  eight 
or  ten  inches.  In  one  corner  I  have  a  dust  box  filled  with 
dry  road  dust  and  at  times  put  in  a  little  lice  killing  powder. 
I  have  the  dust  box  set  so  that  the  sun  shines  on  it,  as  a 
hen  likes  to  dust  herself  in  the  sun. 

I  give  warrn  water  to  drink  early  in  the  morning  and  also 
9,t  noon,  which  assists  to  warm  them  up.  In  the  morning 
I  give  a  mash  composed  of  bran,  ground  corn  and  oats  to 
^hich  I  add  about  half  as  much  fine  cut  alfalfa  or  clover 
and  about  one  half  to  one  ounce  of  fresh  cut  green  bone  for 
each  hen.  1  pour  boiling  water  over  this  mixture  to  scald  it 
and  then  mix  in  some  milk.  I  feed  this  mash  in  a  clean, 
trough,  about  all  they  will  eat  in  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes. 
At  noon  I  scatter  wheat,  barley,  millet  and  sometimes  oats 
in  litter  where  they  must  scratch  for  it.  At  night  I  give 
them  shelled  corn  in  the  same  way,  just  what  they  will  eat 
up  clean;  they  go  to  roost  with  full  crops.  I  take  care  that 
they  do  not  get  too  fat.  I  mix  all  the  table  scraps  with  the 
morning  mash  and  keep  grit  and  charcoal  before  them  at 
all  times.  I  have  used  this  method  of  feeding  in  winter  for 
a  number  of  years  and  always  get  a  nice  lot  of  eggs. 


Barley  is  The  Principal  Food  Fed  by  this  Successful  Breeder^ 
By  M.  Keller. 

To  promote  winter  egg  production  I  keep  my  coops  as 
clean  as  possible,  for  if  filth  is  allowed  to  remain  in  them, 
or  dead  fowls  are  left  to  decay  there,  it  is  useless  to  ex- 
pect the  hens  to  lay  well.  My  coops  are  cleaned  at  least 
twice  a  week  and  air-slacked  lime  scattered  on  the  floors 
to  absorb  the  dampness  and  purify  the  air.  As  soon  as 
the  ground  is  frozen  the  fowls  are  kept  in  the  coop.  They 
will  not  lay  if  allowed  to  run  around  in  the  cold. 

Barley  is  the  principal  food  furnished  but  we  never 
keep  them  on  one  food  constantly.  We  keep  the  coops 
bedcied  with  nice  clean  straw  and  the  barlev  is  scattered 


FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS 


81 


in  it  so  that  they  have  to  work  for  it.  We  also  feed  corn, 
but  not  shelled.  A  very  good  way  to  get  green  food  is  to 
take  an  old  quilt  or  blanket,  lay  it  down  on  the  cellar  floor, 
put  two  or  three  pounds  of  barley  on  it,  then  wet  it  thorough- 
ly and  allow  the  barley  to  sprout.  After  the  sprouts  are 
from  one-half  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch  long,  feed  them 
to  the  hens  once  a  day.  This  will  answer  for  the  green 
food  that  they  get  in  the  summer. 

My  birds  always  have  good  clean  water  and  all  the 
milk  we  have  to  spare.  Cabbage  is  also  given  them  once 
or  twice  a  week. 


I^t'^." 


% 


FILLING  THE  EGG  BASKET. 

How  a  Well  Known   Breeder's  Standard=Bred   Fowls  are 

Housed  and  Fed  to  Produce  Plenty  of  Eggs 

When  Prices  are  High. 

By  E.  C.  Willard. 

A  cut  of  part  of  our  laying  house,  which  is  192  feet  long, 
is  presented  herewith.  It  is  built  on  a  wood  foundation. 
The  frame  is  of  2  x  4  pieces.  The  walls  are  of  waste  lum- 
ber, box  lumber  and  hemlock  boards,  with  single-ply  tar 
'  paper  inside.  The  roof  is  made  of  shiplap,  and  the  whole 
outside  is  covered  with  prepared  roofing.  The  partitions 
are  built  of  common  boards,  except  a  door  three  feet  wide 
at  the  south.  The  door  is  made  of  netting  stretched  on 
a  frame  and  is  hung  on  double-acting  spring  hinges.  The 
house  has  eight  pens,  each  10  x  24  feet  .  Each  pen  has 
a  doorway  in  front,  43^2  x  6  feet,  and  four  openings,  each 
for  a  twelve-light,  8  x  10  glass,  window.  At  the  bottom 
of  the  doorway  there  is  a  board  door,  43^^  x  4  feet,  opening 
outward  and  the  space  above  is  closed  by  a  muslin  screen 
during  severe  weather  and  when  storms  would  beat  in. 
We  keep  the  whole  doorway  open  in  mild  weather  and  on 
bright  days  in  real  cold  weather.  We  have  wire  screens 
to  be  used  to  confine  the  fowls  when  the  door  is  open,  if 
necessary.  And  we  try  to  keep  a  space  in  front  of  each 
pen  clear  of  snow  during  the  winter,  so  that  the  hens  can 
get  out  in  the  air.  The  floors  are  of  dirt  and  sand,  covered 
with  straw  to  a  depth  of  six  or  eight  inches  in  winter. 

The  furnishings  in  each  pen  are  a  long  feed  box,  a  re- 
frigerater  pan  for  water,  set  in  the  partition  so  as  to  serve 
two  pens,  nests  of  various  sorts,  droppings  boards  and 
perches.  Two  pens  are  provided  with  burlap  curtains 
to  enclose  the  roosts,  but  we  did  not  find  it  necessary  to 
use  them  last  winter.  It  is  our  intention  to  leave  one  half 
of  the  glass  out  of  this  house  this  winter,  filling  the  open- 
ings  with  muslin  tacked  on  light  frames.      The  breeding 


84  EGG  MONEY 

houses  are  about  the  same  as  the  laying  houses,  except  that 
the  pens  are  smaller.  We  have  about  fifty  pullets  in  a 
flock  in  this  laying  house.  We  find  this  style  of  house 
quite  convenient,  very  satisfactory  and  not  expensive. 

Feeding  the  Layers. 

We  feed  good,  sound  grain,  wheat,  oats,  oarley,  cracked 
corn  on  the  cob,  all  fed  in  the  litter.  We  are  now  feeding 
nearly  one-fourth  corn  and  in  the  dead  of  winter  we  feed 
it  five  times  a  week  for  the  evening  meal.  Two  evenings 
we  feed  boiled  oats  in  troughs.  The  other  grains  are  fed 
in  about  equal  parts  for  the  morning  feed  which  is  scattered 
in  the  litter  either  after  the  fowls  go  to  roost  at  night  or 
before  they  get  off  the  perches  in  the  morning.  We  keep 
grit,  shell,  charcoal,  beef  scraps  and  dry  mash  (made  after 
the  Mass.  Experimental  Station  formula)  before  the  fowls 
in  boxes  all  the  time.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  morn- 
ing we  feed  vegetables,  including  cabbages  hung  by  strings 
from  the  roof,  and  sugar  beets,  mangel-wurzels  or  turnips 
stuck  on  nails  in  the  walls.  Part  of  the  time  we  give  clover 
and  twice  a  week  a  feed  of  chopped  onions.  The  clover 
is  sometimes  cut  and  steamed,  but  more  often  it  is  fed  dry 
and  uncut.  They  eat  more  of  the  steamed  clover,  but  it 
is  quite  satisfactory  dry  and  uncut. 

The  hens  are  treated  the  same  as  the  pullets,  but  are 
not  fed  so  much  food.  Our  methods  are  very  simple  and 
can  be  put  into  operation  by  anyone. 


^^ 

! 

iwp 

l^m..r^,^,^^ 

i                 '               xi 

A  Group  of  Colony  Houses  on  the   Poultry  Farm  of  E.   C.   Willard 


A  FEEDING  EXPERIMENT. 

Results  of  a  Two=Months  Test  of  Dry  Mash  Fed  in  Hoppers 

Versus  Damp  Mash  in  Troughs,  Conducted  at  Minne= 

sota  State  Experiment  Farm,  Crookston. 

By  Qus  Walters. 

Experiments  were  in  progress  for  two  months,  from 
Dec.  12,  1905,  to  Feb.  12,  1906,  to  ascertain  the  cost  of  egg 
production  and  the  efficiency  of  different  methods  of  feed- 
ing. 

Two  pens  of  White  Leghorn  pullets  (50  to  each  pen) 
were  made  up  a  week  before  the  experiment  began  so  the 
fowls  of  each  pen  would  get  accustomed  to  surroundings 
and  kinds  of  food.  Equally  good  birds  were  put  in  each 
pen  (nearly  all  of  an  age)  before  the  experiment  began. 
Both  pens  of  pullets  gave  practically  the  same  number  of 
eggs  per  day  for  several  days  before  the  test  commenced. 
Pen  No.  1  was  fed  the  ground  meals  dry  in  a  hopper  or 
box  so  the  fowls  could  help  themselves  at  all  times.  The 
box  contained  two  compartments;  in  one  was  put  all  the 
meals  mixed  together  and  in  the  other  the  beef  scraps. 

Both  pens  were  fed  the  whole  and  cracked  grains  scat- 
tered in  the  litter  of  straw  on  the  floors,  about  one-third 
as  much  at  the  morning  feed  as  at  the  night  feed. 

Pen  No.  2  was  fed  the  ground  grain  in  a  mash  daily, 
at  noon,  mixed  with  warm  water  and  fed  in  troughs,  all 
they  would  eat  up  clean  in  about  ten  minutes.  The  pounds 
of  food  each  pen  of  fowls  ate  during  the  two  months  was 
as  follows: 

Pen  No.  1.       Pen  No.  2. 

Wheat 177  183^ 

Oats 157  1633^ 

Barley 172  178^^ 

Wheat  Bran 28%         51 

Wheat  Middlings 23^         44}^ 


86  EGG  MONEY 

Ground  Barley 28^        51 

Beef  Scraps   .69  S9}4 

Cut  Green  Bone 13  18 

Alfalfa  Hay 11  18 

Oyster  Shells 20  203^ 

Grit 13  13K 

It  will  be  seen  that  those  in  pen  No.  1  ate  more  beef 
scraps  and  less  of  the  meals  than  the  fowls  in  pen  No.  2. 
We  think  that  if  the  pullets  in  pen  No.  1  had  been  fed  by 
the  dry  feed  method  from  the  time  they  were  hatched  in 
spring  until  the  experiment  began,  they  would  have  been 
more  accustomed  to  the  kind  of  food  and  would  not  have 
consumed  so  much  beef  scraps,  but  more  of  the  meals,, 
which  would  have  given  better  results.  Pen  No.  1  pullets 
appeared  not  to  relish  or  like  the  dry  mash  as  well  as  the 
pullets  in  pen  No.  2  did  their  damp  mash  at  noon. 

The  following  table  shows  the  cost  of  food  and  the 
results  obtained  from  each  pen: 

Pen  No.  1.    Pen  No.  2. 

Cost  of  food  for  2  months $6 .  857       $6 .  844 

Dozens  of  eggs  received,  total 93   7-12     101}^ 

Value  of  eggs  at  27c,  average  price,  $25 .  28       $27 .  45 
Average  number  of  eggs  per  day  ...    18.2  19.6 

Nutritive  ratio  of  food  consumed.  .  1 :4 . 1  1 :5 

It  was  noticeable  at  the  close  of  the  experiment  that 
the  pullets  in  pen  No.  2  were  in  better  condition  of  health 
than  the  pullets  in  pen  No.  1.  This  we  think  was  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  birds  in  pen  No.  1  ate  too  much  beef  scraps 
which  made  the  ration  too  narrow  or  stimulating,  but  if  the 
beef  scraps  had  been  mixed  with  the  meals  in  the  same  pro- 
portion as  in  the  damp  mash  fed  to  pen  No.  2,  we  think 
that  they  would  have  done  equally  well.  Another, pen  of 
Leghorn  pullets  was  fed  the  same  as  pen  No.  1  pullets,  ex- 
cept that  the  beef  scraps  were  mixed  with  the  meals  in 
about  the  same  proportions  as  in  the  damp  mash  that  pen 
No.   2  received. 

This  third  pen  of  pullets  did  as  well  as  pen  No.  2  as  re- 
gards egg  yield  and  condition  of  health  at  close  of  experi- 
ment, but  as  it  contained  varying  numbers  and  for  other 
reasons,  we  did  not  keep  an  accurate  account  of  food  con- 
sumed. 


THE  TRAP  NEST. 


Its  Use  Enables  the  Poultryman  to  Weed  out  the  Barren 
and  Unprofitable  Hen. 

By  Q.  I.  Lytle. 

Every  poultry  keeper  has  no  doubt  had  the  desire  to 
know  the  individual  record  of  each  of  his  fowls.  Hereto- 
fore it  has  been  impossible  to  gratify  that  desire,  as  no  one 
could  afford  to  pen  each  of  his  fowls  separately.  The 
advent  of  the  record  nestbox  has  now  made  it  possible  for 
every  poultry  keeper  to  know  the  exact  number  of  eggs 
produced  by  each  of  his  hens. 

The  desire  to  know  is  the  result  of  a  natural  inference 
that  individual  records  would  show  that  hens  vary  as  much 
in  the  number  of  eggs  laid  as  different  cows  vary  in  the 
amount  of  milk  produced  or  horses  in  their  speed.  With- 
out doubt,  there  is  more  difference  in  the  laying  qualities 
of  various  hens,  for  only  the  best  cattle  and  horses  have  been 
used  as  breeders  for  years,  while  poultry  keepers  have  not 
known  whether  the  eggs  they  used  for  hatching  were  from 
hens  that  laid  200  eggs  a  year  or  only  twenty. 

A  difference  in  the  number  of  eggs  means  a  decided 
difference  in  the  amount  of  profit.  A  hen  which  lays 
only  fifty  eggs  a  year  hardly  pays  for  her  feed,  and  the 
owner  receives  nothing  for  his  labor  or  money  invested  in 
buildings,  etc.  A  hen  which  lays  100  eggs  a  year  pays  for 
her  feed,  interest  on  the  money  invested  and  a  small  return 
for  the  labor,  while  the  hen  that  lays  150  eggs  a  year  yields 
a  profit  for  her  additional  fifty  eggs  that  is  clear  profit.  The 
hen  that  lays  200  eggs  a  year  must  yield  a  handsome  profit; 
in  fact,  it  is  over  100  per  cent.  Every  poultry  keeper 
should  know  the  exact  number  of  eggs  laid  by  each  fowl 
in  his  flock,  that  he  may  keep  only  the  decidedly  profitable. 
What  Tests  Show. 

Tests  made  with  record  nest  boxes  show  that  there  are 
at  least  two  hens  in  every  twenty  that  never  lay,  and  eight 


88  EGG  MONEY 

more  which  only  lay  enough  collectively  to  pay  their  way. 
The  other  ten  produce  all  the  profit,  which  is  diminished  by 
the  expense  of  the  two  which  never  lay.  The  conclusion  is 
that  half  of  any  flock  will  produce  more  profit  than  the 
whole  flock,  which  is  true.  The  only  question  is  to  know 
which  hens  to  keep  and  which  to  dispose  of. 

As  a  sample,  an  egg  record  made  by  a  pen  of  my  fowls 
during  the  month  of  July,  when  record  nest  boxes  were 
first  placed  in  that  pen,  shows  the  conditions  existing  in 
every  flock  before  it  has  been  sifted  by  the  use  of  a  nest 
box  which  gives  the  individual  record  of  each  fowl. 

This  record  was  made  somewhat  after  the  heaviest  lay- 
ing season,  but  it  shows  very  accurately  the  relative  laying 
qualities  of  the  different  hens,  as  proven  by  the  succeeding 
months. 

There  were  two  hens.  No.  3  and  6,  which  laid  no  eggs 
during  the  month,  nor  did  they  at  any  time  thereafter. 

The  contrast  between  the  good  layers  and  the  poor  layers 
can  be  seen  in  the  following  columns: 

Hen  No.    3  laid 0  eggs 

Hen  Ho.    6  laid 0  eggs 

Hen  No.  16  laid 1  egg 

Hen  No.    9  laid 6  eggs 

Hen  No.  19  laid. 8  eggs 

Hen  No.  14  laid 10  eggs 

Hen  No.  18  laid •. .  15  eggs 

Hen  No.  20  laid 17  eggs 

Hen  No.    2  laid 18  eggs 

Hen  No.    8  laid 19  eggs 

Total 94  eggs 

Hen  No.    1  laid 19  eggs 

Hen  No.    7  laid 20  eggs 

Hen  No.  12  laid 22  eggs 

Hen  No.  13  laid 22  eggs 

Hen  No.  17  laid 22  eggs 

Hen  No.    5  laid 23  eggs 

Hen  No.    4  laid 24  eggs 


THE  TRAP  NEST.  89 

Hen  No.  15  laid 24  eggs 

Hen  No.  10  laid 25  eggs 

Hen  No.  11  laid 26  eggs 

Total 227  eggs 

The  ten  poor  layers  produced  a  total  of  only  94  eggs, 
a  little  over  nine  eggs  apiece,  while  the  ten  good  layers  pro- 
duced 227  eggs,  or  nearly  twenty-three  eggs  apiece.  The 
ten  poor  layers  more  than  paid  their  way  in  summer,  but 
fell  behind  in  winter,  so  that  the  value  of  their  eggs  for  the 
year  was  less  than  the  expense  of  keeping  them.  The 
good  layers  in  summer  proved  to  be  the  good  layers  in  winter 
also. 

As  a  result  of  the  use  of  record  nest  boxe^  for  two  sea- 
sons my  egg  yield  this  year,  for  the  same  number  of  fowls, 
has  been  well  on  to  double  what  it  was  before  putting  in 
record  nest  boxes. 

The  Direct  Benefit. 

A  record  nest  box  will  accomplish  the  following  with  any 
flock:  It  will  show  which  are  the  barren  hens;  it  will  show 
the  exact  number  of  eggs  produced  by  each  laying  hen; 
it  will  enable  the  owner  to  keep  only  the  ten  prolific  layers 
out  of  every  twenty  hens,  and  to  thereby  increase  his  prof- 
its; it  will  enable  the  owner  to  place  twenty  prolific  layers 
where  he  now  has  ten  prolific  layers  and  ten  poor  layers, 
and  to  thereby  more  than  double  his  profits  with  the  same 
buildings,  ground,  feed  and  care;  it  will  make  it  possible 
to  use  only  the  eggs  from  the  best  layers  for  hatching,  and 
to  thereby  produce  a  prolific  laying  strain. 


PRESERVING  EGGS. 

How  Eggs  are  **Put  Down"  in  the  Season  of  Greatest  Pro^ 

duction,  When  the  Price  is  Low,  to  Keep  Until 

the  Price  is  High. 

By  E.  F.  Ladd. 

At  the  present  time  eggs  are  largely  packed  in  lime, 
salt  and  other  products,  or  are  put  in  cold  storage  for  winter 
use,  but  such  eggs  are  very  far  from  being  perfect  when  they 
come  upon  the  markets,  and  frequently  more  than  one-half 
of  them  are  unfit  for  use,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  the  condi- 
tion of  most  markets.  A  method  to  be  generally  em- 
ployed must  be  simple,  cheap,  and  the  eggs,  when  wanted  for 
use,   must   be  of  good  quality. 

There  was  need  for  a  simple  method  of  preserving  eggs; 
one  which  would  enable  the  farmers  or  the  consumers  to 
put  away  eggs  during  the  summer  months  when  they  are 
plentiful  and  command  but  a  small  price,  to  be  used  in  times 
of  scarcity  when  the  price  of  eggs  rules  exceptionally  high. 
For  this  reason  we  were  led  to  make  experiments  in  preserv- 
ing eggs  by  various  means.  Of  the  methods  tested,  water 
glass  was  the  most  promising  and  our  experiments  continued 
through  several  seasons  with  most  satisfactory  results. 

The  shell  of  an  egg  has  a  very  thin  coating  of  mucilag- 
inous, albuminous  matter  upon  its  surface  that  seems  to 
protect  the  eggs  for  a  considerable  time  from  atmospheric 
action  or  the  introduction  of  the  germs  of  decomposition. 
If  this  coating  be  removed  immediately  after  the  egg  is 
deposited,  while  still  warm,  the  keeping  quality  seems 
to  be  much  reduced,  or  if  eggs  that  become  soiled  in  the  nest 
are  washed,  this  albuminous  coating  is  softened  and  the 
life  of  the  egg  shortened  thereby. 

Water  Glass  the  Best  Preservative. 

It  is  believed  that  in  water  glass  we  have  a  preservative 
which  will,  when  used  for  preserving  eggs,  give  better  satis- 


92  EGG  MONEY 

faction  than  any  other  method  available  for  those  who  desire 
to  keep  eggs  for  any  great  length  of  time. 

Eggs  put  down  by  this  method  have  been  kept  from  three 
to  nine  months,  and  the  eggs  have  come  out  in  better  con- 
dition than  by  any  other  method  tested.  When  strictly 
fresh  eggs  only  have  been  put  down,  at  the  end  of  six  months 
they  have  invariably  come  out  in  better  shape  than  the 
average  market  eggs  supposed  to  be  fresh. 

This  method  has  been  tested,  in  a  commercial  way,  in 
nearly  every  state  and  part  of  our  country,  and  we  have 
not  had  to  exceed  eight  adverse  reports.  One  party  in 
Maine  reports  that  during  the  summer  of  1903  he  put  down, 
by  this  method,  6,000  dozen  of  fresh  eggs,  and,  in  the  fol- 
lowing December  and  January,  he  was  selling  these  eggs, 
receiving  the  highest  prices  paid  for  strictly  fresh  eggs, 
and  was  frequently  told  that  they  were  the  best  to  be  had. 
We  might  quote  from  such  trials  made  during  the  past  threo 
years  by  parties  in  North  Dakota,  California,  Carolina, 
New  York,  etc.,  but  the  general  tenor  of  all  is  about  tho 
same. 

After  experiments  made  with  solutions  of  various 
strengths,  and  under  varying  conditions,  we  found  that  an 
8  to  a  10  per  cent  solution  of  water  glass  would  preserve 
eggs  very  effectually,  so  that  at  the  end  of  eight  months 
eggs  that  were  preserved  the  first  part  of  the  summer  appear 
to  be  perfectly  fresh.  In  most  packed  eggs,  after  a  little 
time,  the  yolk  settles  to  one  side  and  the  egg  is  then  in- 
ferior in  quality.  In  boiling  eggs  preserved  for  eight  months 
in  water  glass  the  yolk  retained  its  normal  position  in  the 
egg,  and  in  taste  they  were  not  to  be  distinguished  from 
fresh,  unpacked  store  eggs.  Again,  most  packed  eggs  will 
not  beat  up  well  for  cake-making  or  for  frosting,  while 
eggs  from  a  solution  of  water  glass  seemed  quite  equal 
to  the  average  fresh  store  eggs  of  the  market.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  in  these  experiments  only  fresh  eggs 
were  used  for  preserving;  no  egg  was  more  than  four  days 
old.  Eggs  that  have  already  become  stale  cannot  be  suc- 
cessfully preserved  by  this  or  any  other  method  so  as  to 
come  out  fresh. 


PRESERVING  EGGS  93 

Water  glass  (Sodium  Silicate)  is  a  very  cheap  product 
that  can  usually  be  procured  at  not  to  exceed  fifty  cents 
per  gallon,  and  one  gallon  will  make  enough  solution  to  pre- 
serve fifty  dozen  of  eggs,  so  that  the  cost  of  material  for  this 
method  would  only  be  about  one  cent  per  dozen.  Water- 
glass  is  sodium  and  potassium  silicate,  sodium  silicate  being 
usually  the  cheaper. 

Eggs  Must  Be  Fresh. 

The  eggs  to  be  put  down  by  this  method  must  be  fresh 
and  not  stale  store  eggs.  A  few  stale  eggs  will  soon  injure 
the  entire  lot.  One  party  reports  that  he  put  down  two 
lots  of  eggs,  fifty  gallon  jars  in  each  case;  one  lot  strictly 
fresh  eggs,  the  other  contained  some  stale  store  stock  and 
the  first  was  a  complete  success  while  the  second  lot  came 
out  about  like  the  ordinary  packed  eggs,  some  fair,  some 
spoiled. 

A  good  grade  of  water  glass  must  be  used.  Some  of  the 
cheap  water  glass  contains  so  much  of  free,  uncombined 
alkali  that  the  eggs  preserved  in  such  solutions  become 
watery  and  acquire  a  bad  flavor.  I  prefer  water  glass  in  the 
form  of  heavy  white  jelly  which  flows  like  heavy  cold  molas- 
ses. Of  this  grade  of  water  glass  somewhat  less  is  needed 
than  when  the  thinner  produce  is  employed.  The  dry 
powder  water  glass  has  not  as  a  general  rule  dissolved  fully 
in  hot  water,  and  for  that  reason  has  not  proven  as  satis- 
factory as  the  first  named  product. 

Galvanized  iron  vessels,  crocks,  jars,  etc.,  may  be  used 
in  which  to  preserve  the  eggs. '  Wooden  kegs  of  good 
quality  are  satisfactory,  but  these  must  be  thoroughly 
sweetened  by  scalding  with  boiling  water. 

There  have  been  a  few  complaints  that  barrels  have  not 
been  entirely  satisfactory  as  the  water  glass  dissolved  some 
products  which  deposited  on  the  eggs.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  this  may  have  been  due  to  the  presence  of  glue  used  as 
sizing  for  the  barrel.  When  the  barrels  have  such  a  coat- 
ing it  might  be  well  to  char  the  inside  of  the  barrel  by 
placing  in  it  a  few  shavings  saturated  with  kerosene  oil 
and  then  throwing  in  a  lighted  taper  and  allowing  the  sides 
of  the  barrel  to  become  charred.      This  barrel  well  burned 


M 


EGG  MONEY 


^nd  then  thoroughly  washed  should  be  free  from  any  glue- 
like products. 

Preparing  the  Solution. 

For  those  who  may  desire  to  test  the  method  I  give  the 
following  directions: 

Use  pure  water  that  has  been  thoroughly  boiled  and  then 
cooled.  To  each  ten  quarts  of  water  add  one  quart  or 
slightly  less  of  water  glass.  When  the  heavy  jelly-like 
solution  is  used,  three-fourths  quart  of  water  glass  will  be 
ample. 

The  solution  may  be  prepared,  placed  in  the  jar  and  fresh 
eggs  added  from  time  to  time  until  the  jar  is  filled,  but,  be 
sure  that  there  is  fully  two  inches  of  water  glass  solution 
to  cover  the  eggs. 

Keep  the  eggs  in  a  cool,  dark  place  and  well  covered  to 
prevent  evaporation.  A  cool  cellar  is  a  good  place  in  which 
to  keep  the  eggs. 

If  the  eggs  arc  kept  in  too  warm  a  place  the  silicate  is 
deposited  and  the  eggs  are  not  properly  protected.  Do 
not  wash  the  eggs  before  packing,  for  by  so  doing  you  in- 
jure their  keeping  quality,  probably  by  dissolving  the 
mucilagenous  coating  on  the  outside  of  the  shell. 

For  packing  use  only  perfectly  fresh  eggs,  for  stale  eggs 
will  not  be  saved  and  may  prove  harmful  to  the  others. 
All  packed  eggs  contain  a  little  gas  and  in  boihng  such  eggs 
they  will  crack.  This  may  be  prevented  by  making  a  pin- 
hole in  the  blunt  end  of  the  egg.  To  do  this  hold  the  egg 
in  the  hand,  place  the  point  of  a  pin  against  the  shell  of  the 
egg  at  the  blunt  end  and  give  the  pin  a  quick,  sharp  blow, 
just  enough  to  drive  the  pin  through  the  shell  without  injury 
to  the  egg. 


REGULATING  THE  MOLT. 


A  Successful  Molt  is  Necessary  for  the  Well=Being  of  the 
Profitable  Fowl — The  Required  Care  and  Food. 

By  T.  F.  Rigg. 

Fowls  which  have  been  properly  fed,  housed  and  other- 
wise cared  for  molt  in  August  and  September,  and  while  such 
stock  demands  some  special  attention  at  that  time  there 
is  no  need  of  any  loss.  Fowls  molt  in  accordance  with  the 
law  of  nature,  and  molting  is  no  particular  strain  upon  an 
entirely   healthy   fowl. 

We  must  keep  in  mind  all  the  time  that  we  are,  in  a  great 
measure,  rearing  and  keeping  our  domestic  poultry  under 
unnatural  conditions.  The  fowls  of  the  air  and  the  woods 
and  the  prairie  molt  slowly.  This  is  a  wise  provision  of 
nature.  These  birds  are  subject  to  all  the  changing  con- 
ditions of  the  weather.  Nature  does  not  rob  them  of  all, 
or  practically  all,  of  their  feathers  at  once,  as  man's  treat- 
ment of  fowls  very  often  robs  the  fowls  of  their  entire  coat 
of  feast  hers. 

I  spend  some  time  every  fall  in  search  of  the  prairie 
chicken,  the  quail  and  the  duck.  There  is  never  a  time 
when  the  experienced  person  could  detect  by  handling 
one  of  these  birds  that  it  was  in  a  molt.  Nature  not  only 
protects  them  against  cold,  but  never  for  a  day  takes  from 
them  the  power  of  rapid  flight  by  having  them  drop  all  the 
•old  feathers  at  once. 

We,  as  breeders  of  poultry,  can  practically  regulate  the 
molting  of  our  fowls.  Where  proper  attention  is  not  given, 
the  stock  often  suffers  during  the  molting  season.  In  all 
his  operations  the  successful  fancier — let  us  designate  him 
as  the  man  who  succeeds,  for  then  we  will  more  strongly 
impress  the  reader — knows  that  the  different  stages  through 
which  his  fowls  must  pass  crowd  upon  one  another  very 
rapidly.      It  is,  after  all,  but  a  brief  time  from  chickenhood 


96  EGG  MONEY 

to  maturity,  when  a  chick  becomes  a  fowl.  The  fancier 
so  feeds  and  so  handles  his  stock  that  it  is  fully  able  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  different  stages  through  which 
it  must  pass.  And  so,  when  the  molting  season  comes 
his  fowls  are  in  condition  to  molt  properly.  He  has  brought 
them  to  this  period  fully  prepared  for  the  ordeal  through 
which  they  must  pass. 

"Rugged"  Fowls  Molt  Best. 

How  has  he  accomplished  this?  Well,  an  answer  to 
this  question  would  necessitate  the  covering  of  the  whole 
field  of  fowl  management.  Let  me  tell  you  in  brief  how  I 
have  handled  my  stock,  and  as  the  work  has  annually  been 
satisfactory  in  results,  it  may  be  that  it  will  prove  of  interest 
and  profit  to  you.  In  the  first  place,  the  stock  has  been 
bred  right,  coming  down  along  the  line  for  years  from 
absolutely  healthy  and  rugged  stock.  This  is  impor- 
tant. Then  as  newly  hatched  chicks,  as  growing  chicks, 
as  breeders,  they  are  handled  and  fed  and  housed  so  as  to 
develop  their  every  faculty.  But  let  us  more  particularly 
refer  to  the  management  having  a  direct  bearing  upon  the 
molting  of  the  fowls.  From  the  day  the  stock  is  placed  in 
the  breeding  pens  we  feed  heavily,  and  by  so  doing  we  are 
sustaining  every  element  in  the  fowl's  nature,  flesh,  blood, 
bone,  muscle,  feathers,  etc.,  and  are  getting  an  abundance 
of  eggs.  If  we  did  not  thus  sustain  the  various  elements 
in  the  fowl  we  could  not  and  would  not  secure  a  liberal  sup- 
ply of  eggs.  Here  is  where  a  great  mistake  is  made  by  many. 
Here  is  where  the  theorist  in  his  writings  as  regards  feeding 
for  egg  production  overlooks  a  fundamental  law  of  nature. 
It  is  a  fact  beyond  dispute  that  it  is  during  the  period  of 
the  most  heavy  feeding,  when  that  feeding  is  proper,  that 
we  secure  our  greatest  egg  production.  The  various  or- 
gans of  a  hen  must  be  working  in  harmony  with  nature's 
requirements  before  she  can  possibly  give  nature's  full 
output.  A  hen  cannot  possibly  lay  an  abundance  of  eggs 
unless  all  her  being  is  supplied  fully  with  the  food  elements 
required.  There  is  no  product  which  can  be  fed  to  a  hen 
that  she  can  convert  entirely  into  eggs.  She  must  draw 
upon  her  food  for  the  maintenance  of  all  her  being,  and  so 


REGULATING  THE  MOLT  97 

we  keep  in  mind  in  selecting  our  food  rations  the  fact  that 
our  fowls  will  in  the  fall  be  in  molt.  We  are  feeding  them 
all  the  time  to  meet  this  condition. 

Fowls  when  properly  fed  begin  to  molt  in  August 
This  early  molt  is  the  effect  of  what  is  sometimes 
called  high  feeding,  but  what  is  really  proper  feeding.  Such 
fowls,  by  reason  of  the  correct  feeding,  and  the  housing  from 
rains  and  exposure,  are  in  such  a  condition  that  they  molt 
early,  for,  being  strong  and  rugged  and  healthy,  nature 
finds  every  requirement  at  hand  and  proceeds  to  business. 
It  is  another  illustration  of  men  working  hand  in  hand  with 
nature,   aiding  and  abetting.      That  is  all. 

Now,  as  to  bringing  about  this  condition.  Our  practice 
has  been  to  feed  such  rations  as  will  thus  put  the  fowls 
in  this  condition.  This  means  that  oats,  both  ground  and 
whole,  some  corn  meal,  some  oil  cake  meal,  some  beef 
scraps,  raw  bone,  and  like  foods,  have  been  daily  given  the 
fowls. 

Use  of  Oil  Meal. 

We  would  not  be  without  oil  cake  meal.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  foods  in  all  the  list.  It  will  keep  the  growing 
chicks  in  perfect  condition  so  far  as  their  bowels  are  con- 
cerned; it  prevents  loss  of  chicks  by  bowet  trouble,  the 
trouble  that  carries  off  a  very  large  per  cent  of  the  chicks 
which  die;  it  is  rich  in  feather  making  properties,  and  gives 
the  plumage  a  gloss  that  cannot  otherwise  be  obtained. 
Not  only  this,  but  the  fowls  are  supplied  all  the  time  with  a 
blue  grass  and  clover  range.  We  have  been  building  up 
the  fowl  in  every  particular,  bone,  blood,  muscle,  etc.,  and 
this  ration,  this  care,  supplies,  according  to  nature,  the  very 
material  necessary  for  feather  making  at  the  time  of  molt. 


THE  FORCED  MOLT. 

A  Description  of  the  Method  Used  on  Several  Successful  Egg 

Farms    to    Produce    Early    Shedding    and    Rapid 

Feathering,  that  the  Fowls  May  Lay  in  the 

Season  of  High   Prices. 


By  H.  A.  Nourse. 

Inducing  an  early  molt  is  comparatively  a  new  operation 
in  the  business  of  poultry  keeping.  If  we  mistake  not,  the 
first  to  publicly  describe  the  practice,  was  the  prosperous 
proprietor  of  a  New  York  egg  farm.  This  man  was  in 
demand  as  a  lecturer  at  agricultural  institutes  and  it  was 
during  his  lecturing  tours  that  the  method  was  first  made 
public. 

The  advantages  of  such  a  method  are  manifest.  As  a 
rule  the  best  layers  of  the  first  year  molt  late  in  the  follow- 
ing fall.  This  applies  with  equal  force  to  yearlings  and  two- 
year-olds.  Molting  late,  they  naturally  molt  slowly, 
and  before  they  have  entirely  produced  their  new  plumage 
and  recovered  the  strength  lost  in  the  process,  and  are  in 
condition  to  produce  eggs,  the  best  of  the  season  of  high 
prices  is  over.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  when 
the  price  of  eggs  is  low  they  can  readily  be  spared  from  the 
ranks  of  producers  and  at  that  time  molting  should  take 
place  in  order  that  the  fowls  may  recover  their  wonted  pro- 
ductiveness before  the  beginning  of  cold  weather. 

Obviously  the  hens  could  not  molt  successfully  while  in 
full  lay.  Therefore  the  poultryman  conceived  the  idea  of 
turning  these  fowls  loose  in  the  fields  to  search  for  most  of 
their  food,  feeding  them  only  so  much  grain  as  was  necessary 
to  support  them  and  that  of  a  non-fattening  nature.  Under 
such  treatment  the  egg  yield  decreased  rapidly  until  it  was 
represented  by  zero  and  the  fowls  themselves  were  rather 
thin  in  flesh,  yet  their  blood  was  good  and  they  possessed 


THE  FORCED  MOLT  99 

abundant  vigor  from  their  free  life  in  the  open  air.  At 
this  point  they  were  returned  to  the  yards  and  fed  heavily 
of  food  containing  rather  more  carbonaceous  material  than 
usually  is  found  in  rations  prescribed  for  laying  fowls. 
This  heavy  feeding,  with  little  exercise,  induced  a  rapid 
shedding  of  the  feathers  and  often  in  two  weeks  the  dis- 
carding process  was  practically  complete.  This  done,  a 
strengthening,  feather-building  ration  was  furnished,  in- 
cluding bone-forming  foods  for  the  bony  structure  of  the 
feather,  sufficient  fat  or  canbonaceous  material  to  main- 
tain the  heat  or  energy  of  the  body  and  protein  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  muscles  and  tissues.  More  exercise  was  given, 
a  run  of  considerable  area  provided  with  sufficient  shade 
being  preferred.  Of  course,  other  conditions  were  favorable. 
All  sorts  of  vermin  were  kept  down  and  the  fowls  were  made 
comfortable  by  conditions  conducive  to  health. 

This  procedure  made  comparatively  short  work  of  the 
molting  season  and  in  two  months  from  the  time  of  turning 
the  fowls  loose  on  the  range,  they  appeared  with  a  brand 
new  coat  of  feathers  and  with  healthy,  vigorous  bodies. 
If,  then,  the  process  began  the  first  of  August,  the  fowls 
were  ready  for  business  the  first  of  October  and  laying  well 
one  month  after.  This  plan,  with  slight  variations,  is, 
in  use  today  on  numerous  large  and  small  egg  plants  the 
country  over  and  enables  the  poultryman  to  secure  a  heavy 
egg  yield  from  his  yearling  and  two-years-old  hens  at  a  time 
when  eggs  are  money,  and  a  time  when  otherwise  the  hens 
would  be  in  full  molt,  or  just  recovering,  and  absolutely  un- 
productive. 


THE  200=EQQ  HEN. 

The  Standard=Bred  Hen  That  Will  Lay  Two  Hundred  Eggs 

in  Twelve  Months  is  a  Reality — How  She  is 

Produced  and  Cared  for. 

By  Victor  D.  Caneday. 

The  question  whether  the  200-egg  hen  is  a  possibiHty 
seems  to  be  having  more  than  usual  attention  from  the  poul- 
try press.  There  is  evidently  a  growing  faith  among  the 
more  careful  breeders  as  to  the  realization  of  the  hen  that 
can  lay  200  eggs  in  a  year.  Naturally  there  are  some  who 
are  skeptical  with  regard  to  such  heavy  laying,  but  probably 
most  of  the  skepticism  is  due  to  a  misunderstanding  of  the 
different  writers. 

Much  which  has  been  written,  while  not  untrue,  might 
be  quite  misleading  to  the  casual  reader.  We  do  not  think 
that  anyone  really  believes  the  time  will  come  when  the 
average  hen  (take  them  right  through  the  country  as  they 
run)  will  lay  200  eggs  per  year,  although  some  might  gather 
that  idea  from  some  articles  which  have  been  written  on 
the  subject.  The  200-egg  hen  is  a  product  of  careful  breed- 
ing and  proper  care  just  as  truly  as  is  the  exhibition  fowl, 
and  there  is  not  much  more  danger  of  the  average  hen  be- 
coming a  200-egg  hen  than  that  the  average  thoroughbred 
fowl  will  become  an  exhibition  specimen. 

A  hen  capable  of  laying  over  200-eggs  in  a  year  today  is  a 
phenomenal  layer  and  has  become  such  by  careful,  pains- 
taking breeding,  or  else  has  been  given  unusually  good  care 
to  accomplish  that  result.  The  beginner  who  starts  into 
the  poultry  business  expecting  to  get  an  average  of  200  eggs 
per  year  from  his  hens  will  find  he  has  made  an  awful  blunder 
in  his  calculations,  even  though  he  purchased  the  best 
laying  stock  in  the  country  to  start  with.  Most  beginners 
will  be  safer  in  estimating  their  first  two  years'  egg  product 
at   100  eggs  per  hen  per  year.      We  have  made  it  one  of 


102 


EGG  MONEY 


our  chief  aims  in  breeding  to  breed  for  the  best  layers,  and, 
among  other  things,  we  have  learned  that  to  obtain  the  maxi- 
mum number  of  eggs  from  a  flock  of  hens  in  a  year  they 
must  be  given  a  pen  with  ample  room,  and  not  be  allowed 
to  mingle  with  other  fowls,  nor  other  fowls  be  allowed  to 
mingle  with  them.  Everything  must  be  as  regular  and  sys- 
tematic  as    clock-work    in    both    care    and   feeding.      Any 


* 

•'  f    ,  J  ,,.,;;ji^|ti;:                      ■    ■   ^'^SU 

I^HHjj^^^^^H 

wKKm^^^M 

■■■^■;«jS.:;Sl^Siffl 

A  Vigorous  Male  and  His  Family  of  Winter  Layers  Taking  Out-Door 
Exercise  in  Mid-Winter. 


sudden  cnange  of  feed  or  unusual  condition  of  any  kind  is 
quite  apt  to  stop  the  most  of  the  flock  laying  for  from  two 
weeks  to  a  month. 

Occasionally  there  are  hens  which  will  continue  to  lay 
pretty  regularly  when  the  conditions  are  such  that  the  other 
members  of  the  flock  are  non-producers.  It  is  from  such 
specimens  the  200-egg  hen  must  come.  But  their  progeny^ 
while  having  the  continuous  egg-laying  habit,  will  vary 
considerably,  some  being  much  more  persistent  than  others. 
By  carefully  selecting  the  most  persistent  layers  from  year  to 
year  and  mating  the  best  laying  hens  with  males  from  equally 
prolific  dams,  the  average  egg  yield  of  a  flock  can  be  wonder- 


THE  200-EGG  HEN 


103 


fully  increased;  where  the  principal  aim  is  to  get  the  maximum 
egg  yield,  it  is  entirely  possible  to  bring  the  average  up  to 
200  eggs  per  hen  per  year.  True,  there  are  other  things 
besides  breeding  which  enter  in;  the  hens  must  be  properly 
reared  so  as  to  have  rugged  constitutions  and  their  keeper 
must  be  an  expert  on  the  lines  of  feeding,  care  and  housing. 


Interior  of  a  House  for  Winter    Layers,  Showing  the  Roost  and  RooSt 
Platform  with  Curtain  to  let  Down  in  Front. 

We  have  often  wished  that  we  could  afford  to  give  a  pen 
of  hens  a  fair  show  for  a  full  year's  record.  We  feel  con- 
fident the  results  would  be  such  as  to  establish  the  fact  that 
careful  breeding  and  good  care  easily  produce  a  flock  of  200- 
egg  hens.  When  we  first  began  breeding  poultry  we  found  a 
very  great  variation  in  the  hens  as  layers,  some  actually 
not  laying  fifty  eggs  in  a  year  and  one  hen,  which  was  a  beauty 
and  won  second  prize  at  the  poultry  show,  was  practically 
worthless  as  a  layer.  We  found  such  hens  fine  eating  on 
the  table,  but  chose  the  best  layers  for  breeders,  and  today 
the  most  of  our  breeding  hens  have  records  of  from  twenty- 


104  EGG  MONET 

four  to  twenty-nine  eggs  in  a  month;  several  have  laid  from 
150  to  165  eggs  in  eight  months,  and  some  have  laid  over  200 
eggs  in  a  year  without  special  care  or  housing. 

.  Laying  Versus  Breeding. 

It  is  needless  to  say  we  have  great  faith  in  the  possibility 
of  the  200-egg  hen,  but  we  do  not  believe  that  one  can  obtain 
such  large  egg  records  from  their  fowls  year  after  year  and 
use  them  for  breeders  at  the  same  time  successfully.  We 
now  select  our  best  layers  by  their  best  month's  records 
and  are  confident  that  a  hen  which  is  capable  of  laying  from 
twenty-five  to  twenty-nine  eggs  in  a  month  would  be  able, 
under  proper  management,  to  lay  200  or  more  eggs  in  a  year. 

There  is  one  other  feature  of  this  200-egg  hen  subject 
where  there  seems  to  be  a  misunderstanding.  Most  writers 
who  claim  the  200-egg  hen  is  possible,  base  their  calculations 
on  her  first  year  as  a  layer,  that  is,  they  claim  she  is  able  to 
lay  200  eggs  in  one  year  from  the  time  she  comes  to  laying 
maturity.  There  are  not  many  hens  which  will  give  as  good 
results  in  egg  production  the  second  laying  year  as  they  can 
in  the  first,  for  several  reasons.  In  the  first  place  if  pullets 
commence  laying  in  October  or  November  they  will  often 
not  molt  until  they  have  gone  through  the  full  twelve  months, 
especially  if  they  are  carefully  fed 'and  housed.  In  fact, 
a  good  laying  pullet  is  quite  apt  to  molt  later  than  the  rest 
of  the  flock,  and,  of  course,  by  so  doing  adds  that  much  to 
her  first  year's  record  while  deducting  it  from  the  second 
year's   work. 

Then  there  are  some  writers  who  seem  to  carry  the  idea 
that  there  are  times  when  the  weather  is  so  cold  that  it  is 
impossible  to  get  a  hen  to  lay  a  single  egg.  A  good  laying 
hen,  when  properly  housed  and  fed,  will  not  pay  much  at- 
tention to  the  extremes  of  temperature.  In  fact,  the  most 
of  the  secret  of  obtaining  winter  eggs  is  in  preventing  the 
flock  feeling  the  extremes  of  temperature,  by  exposing  them 
as  much  as  possible  in  mild  winter  weather  and  taking  care 
to  keep  them  comfortably  housed  in  the  extremely  cold 
weather.  For  such  reasons  as  these  it  is  clearly  evident 
the  average  hen  will  not  soon  become  a  200-egg  hen,  because 
most  flocks  are  too  miserably  housed  and  cared  for  in  the 
winter  for  them  to  lay  at  all  except  in  the  mildest  weather 


THE  200-EGG  HEN  105 

^hen  they  are  comfortable  out  of  doors  and  can  find  sufficient 
iood  for  their  purpose. 

The  use  of  trap  nests  and  careful  record  keeping  has  dis- 
closed the  truth  concerning  the  laying  qualities  of  our  pure- 
bred fowls.  A  flock  which  can  produce  an  average  of  150 
•eggs  per  year  for  each  hen  (and  that  is  a  mighty  good  lay- 


Comfdrtable   Quarters   for  the   Housewife's   Fowls,    Banked   with   Corn 
Stalks  and  Equipped  with  an  Improvised  Open  Shed. 

ing  flock)  is  almost  sure  to  have  some  hens  in  it  that  are  lay- 
ing 200  or  more  eggs  in  the  year;  but,  if  the  breeder  has  no 
way  of  knowing  which  hen  it  is  that  is  his  or  her  best  layer, 
there  is  very  little  chance  of  improving  the  laying  qualities 
of  the  flock.  The  only  practical  way  in  which  improvement 
in  the  laying  can  be  accomplished  is  by  careful  selection  and 
mating.  Of  course  care  is  necessarily  limited  in  its  effect. 
One  can  give  a  scrub  cow  the  very  best  of  food  and  care, 
but  she  will  not  begin  to  give  product  in  the  milk  and  butter 
w^hich  the  same  care  would  bring  from  a  well-bred  Jersey 
of  a  heavy  milking  strain.  Just  so  with  the  laying  hen^ 
a  flock  of  hens  which  for  generations  have  been  selected  and 
mated  to  produce  superior  layers  will  respond  much  more 


106  EGG  MONEY 

readily  and  freely  to  good  care  and  feeding  than  will  a  flock 
which  has  not  been  bred  and  selected  systematically  for 
that  purpose. 

Heavy  Laying  Requires  Strength. 

For  the  benefit  of  the  amateur  we  will  say  here  that  one 
should  not  expect  to  get  strong,  rugged  young  stock  from 
a  heavy-laying  hen  the  same  year  in  which  her  record  as  a 
layer  is  made.  Continuous  heavy  laying  is  a  great  drain 
on  the  system  and  eggs  from  a  hen  after  a  long  period  of 
heavy  laying  are  not  apt  to  give  good  results  in  fertility 
or  produce  strong,  vigorous  chicks.  We  know  some  writers 
claim  that  if  a  hen  is  properly  fed  continuous  laying  need 
not  affect  fertility  and  in  part  we  agree  with  them,  but  the 
difficulty  is  to  feed  correctly,  to  supply  the  materials  upon 
which  the  hens  can  sustain  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  body, 
and  at  the  same  time  keep  up  the  egg  yield.  There  is  a 
happy  medium  between  the  two  extremes.  Happy  is  the 
man  who  has  found  it  and  can  so  care  for  his  fowls  as  to 
obtain  the  maximum  number  of  eggs  from  them  without  al- 
lowing them  to  either  become  too  fat  or  too  thin,  for  their 
best  good  in  health  and  vigor.  In  isolated  cases  we  know 
it  is  possible,  but  doubt  very  much  if  it  is  in  the  case  of  an 
entire  flock  unless  they  are  all  of  one  line  of  breeding  with  very 
similar  characteristics.  The  hen  which  made  the  best 
year's  record  for  us  gave  exceptionally  good  results  in  both 
fertility  and  vigor  of  chicks,  but  we  consider  that  an  excep- 
tion to  the  rule  and  would  advise  the  amateur  to  select  his 
best  layers  from  their  monthly  records  or  else  breed  from 
them  the  season  following  their  record  year.  This  is  the 
method  we  adopted  when  we  first  began  breeding  standard 
poultry  (at  that  time  we  did  it  through  force  of  circum- 
stances), but  after  several  years  of  experience  we  are  satis- 
fied that  it  is  the  best  method  for  the  poultry  breeder  to 
follow. 


RHODE  ISLAND  EGG  FARMING. 

A  Description  of  the  Primitive  Equipment  and  Methods  Used 

on   Little   Crompton's   Famous   Egg   Farms — Buildings 

are  Positively  Cheap — Cracked  Corn  is  the  Principal 

Article  of  Food — Profits  Average  Seventy=five 

Cents  to  One  Dollar  a  Hen. 


By  Arthur  C.  Smith. 

If  one  were  to  seek  the  soundest  and  surest  business 
proposition  in  the  entire  field  of  poultry  culture,  he  would 
be  compelled  to  choose  between  rearing  the  winter  soft- 
roasters  as  demonstrated  by  the  South  Shore  poultry- 
men  of  Massachusetts  and  market  egg  production  as  con- 
ducted on  plants  of  Little  Crompton,  Rhode  Island.  The 
first  has  been  explained  frequently,  but  the  latter,  the  oldest 
and  best  established  paying  poultry  enterprise  in  the  United 
States,  has  seldom  been  described  to  the  readers  of  poultry 
literature. 

Little  Crompton  is  a  township  in  Rhode  Island,  at  the 
most  southeasterly  point  in  the  state.  On  the  map,  the 
southern  portion  of  the  territory  that  comprises  the  town 
appears  to  have  been  put  there  to  separate  Buzzard  and  Nar- 
ragansett  bays.  To  visit  this  most  interesting  poultry 
colony,  in  many  respects  the  most  interesting  in  the  country, 
at  least  so  considered  by  Mr.  Edward  Brown,  the  English 
poultry  authority  and  writer,  one  must  leave  the  train  at 
Tiverton,  R.  I.,  and  then  procure  a  team  for  a  drive  of  at 
at  least  twenty-five  miles,  if  he  wishes  to  see  any  considerable 
part  of  the  colony.  It  is  aptly  termed  a  poultry  colony, 
as  nearly  every  resident  has  poultry,  either  as  the  main 
product  of  the  farm  or  as  an  important  side  issue. 

The  drive  from  Tiverton  around  Little  Crompton  on  a 
fine  day  is  a  very  pleasant  one,  taking  in  as  it  does  the  scenery 
of  both  shores  of  the  east  channel  of  Narragansett  bay. 
About  five  miles  from  Tiverton  station  and  not  far  from  the 
line  that  separates  the  two  towns,  the  visitor  comes  to  the 


108  EGG  MONEY 

top  of  a  hill  overlooking  much  of  Little  Crompton  and  be- 
low him  is  spread  out  many  little  farms,  perhaps  a  score  or 
more,  each  with  its  group  of  poultry  cottages,  all  much  the 
same  in  appearance.  All  are  wood-colored,  that  is,  none  are 
painted,  and  so  few  whitewashed  that  they  are  scarcely 
noticed.  We  shall  see  these  houses  more  in  detail  on  closer 
inspection. 

The  Original  "Red"  Section. 

The  largest  plants  winter  about  twenty-eight  hundred 
hens.  These  are  ail  Rhode  Island  Reds.  Both  Single 
and  Rose  Comb  varieties  are  kept.  This  breed  was  originat- 
ed right  here  on  these  very  farms  and  is  well  adapted  to  egg 
farming;  though  as  bred  on  most  farms  it  is  not  as  large  as 
other  standard  American  breeds  it  is  yet  large  enough  for 
a  good,  salable  market  fowl.  This  bird  is,  undoubtedly, 
a  Mediterranean-Asiatic  cross  with  the  brown  Leghorn  rep- 
resenting the  JMediterranean  blood  and  a  rather  undeter- 
mined quality  representing  the  Asiatic.  The  writer  has 
seen  females  much  resembling  these  from  crosses  of  Brown 
Leghorns  and  Light  Brahmas.  There  is  no  apparent  rea- 
son why  a  Cochin  cross  could  not   be  used  with  Brown 


A   Sample  of  Primitive  Brood  Coop   Used  on   One  of  the  Colony  Egg 
Farms  Described  by  A.   C.  Smith. 


RHODE  ISLAND  EGG  FARMING  lOS" 


A  Typical  Laying  ^av^.^o^  x  wL,iid  by  A.  C  Smith  on  his  Visit  to  a  Rhode 
Island  Egg  Farm. 

Leghorns  to  produce  a  variety  of  the  same  characteristics 
as  the  Rhode  Island  Reds  possess.  However,  the  whole 
matter  seems  to  be  problematical  and  we  must  take  these 
farms  as  we  find  them  with  the  established  Rhode  Island 
Reds — good  layers  and  fairly  good  market  fowls. 

While  the  great  majority  of  these  farms  breed  Rhode 
Island  Reds  exclusively,  yet  there  are  exceptions.  The 
Light  Brahmas  are  the  second  favorites.  We  also  find 
White  Wyandottes  and  particularly  do  we  find  Pekin  Ducks- 
and  Embden  Geese. 

The  Houses  are  Cheap. 

As  stated,  these  are  not  built  for  ornamentation.  They 
are  not  built  by  men  who  have  burdensome  incomes  to- 
reduce.  They  are  built  by  men  inculcated  with  the  save- 
the-coppers  spirit,  and  look  it.  All  are  of  much  the  same 
general  plan,  built  of  rough,  square  edged  hemlock  boards, 
both  roof  and  walls.  They  are  about  all  of  the  pitch  roof 
style  and  while  they  vary  in  length  are  in  almost  every 
instance  ten  feet  wide.  Some  are  ten  feet  long,  more  are 
twelve  or  fifteen,  and  many  are  twenty.  A  great  deal 
of  ingenuity  is  displayed  in  the  minor  details  of  fittings. 
The  roofs  are  in  some  cases  covered  with  waterproof  paper, 
but  in  most  instances  they  are  not.  The  hemlock  boards 
are  laid  up  and  down  close  together,  and  battened,  some- 
times with  lath,  sometimes  with  wider  stuff,  and  again, 
with  other  boards,  in  which  case  the  course  underneath 
is  not  laid  very  close  together.      There  is  always  one  win- 


110  EGG  MONEY 

dow  in  the  south  side,  sometimes  more,  according  to  the 
length,  and  a  door.  The  walls  are  between  three  and  six 
feet  high,  generally  nearer  six  than  three.  Just  outside 
the  door  we  find  a  crate,  often  a  common  strawberry  crate, 
for  cooping  broody  hens  until  they  desist.  Except  in  severe 
weather  we  also  find  a  bucket  for  water  and  a  feed  trough, 
also  just  outside  the  door. 

The  Inside  Fittings. 
The   interior  has  the  necessities,   nothing   more.      You 
always  find  a  bank  of  a  dozen  or  so  nest  boxes  on  the  wall, 


Equipment   for   Distributing   Food   and   Water   and   Gathering  Eggs    on 
a  Rliode  Island  Egg  Farm. 

a  hopper  or  two  for  feeding  grain  and  scraps  and  the  roost 
poles.  The  latter  generally  rest  on  cross  pieces  nailed  to  the 
walls  and  are  usually  at  the  west  end  of  the  house,  about 
two  feet  from  the  ground,  for  the  floor  of  these  houses  is 
always  sand,  loam,  or  a  mixture.  There  are  seldom  any 
droppings  boards,  the  droppings  collecting  on  the  ground. 
To  prevent  them  being  scratched  all  over  the  floor  a  board 
six  or  eight  inches  wide  is  placed  on  edge  across  the  floor  of 
the  house.  As  these  houses  are  thoroughly  cleaned  but 
twice  a  year,  the  odor  that  would  arise  from  the  droppings 
creates  a  problem.  It  is  this  fact  that  makes  the  elimina- 
tion of  drop-boards  advisable  for  there  is  less  odor  where 
the  droppings  fall  into  loam  or  sand.  Occasionally  sand 
or  loam  from  the  opposite  end  of  the  house  is  shoveled 


RHODE  ISLAND  EGG  FARMING 


111 


over  the  droppings,  thus  deodorizing  the  house  for  the 
time  being.  In  the  spring  and  fall  these  houses  are  thor- 
oughly cleaned.  The  sand  or  loam  that  forms  the  floor  is 
taken  out,  the  inside  walls  whitewashed  and  clean  sand  or 
loam  put  in.  That  which  has  been  taken  out  is  used  for 
fertilizer  on  grass  land. 

Location  and  Capacity  of  Houses. 

These  houses  are  located  in  the  fields,  usually  fifty  to  one 
hundred  feet  apart.      The  number  in  each  field  depends  upon 


^^^^^^^^K  '           ^^m.^''^-   m      ■■  ' ^^ 

^^^^^P 

Device  for  Moving  Colony  Laying  Houses  From  one  Location  to  An- 
other on  a  Rhode  Island  Egg  Farm. 

the  size  of  the  field  and  the  notion  of  the  proprietor.  We 
saw  none  located  so  close  together  that  the  growth  of  grass 
in  the  fields  was  affected  by  the  number  of  hens.  They 
are  generally  placed  in  rows  so  that  a  team  can  be  driven 
handily  along  the  front  of  each  pen.  Each  house  contains 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  fowls,  usually  about  thirty-five. 
The  size  of  the  house  that  contains  the  latter  number  is 
usually  ten  by  twelve  or  fifteen  feet. 

Methods  of  Feeding  are  Simple. 

These  flocks  have  a  hopper  of  cracked  corn  before  them 
at  all  times.  A  great  many  flocks  also  have  all  the  beef 
scraps  that  they  will  eat,  also  in  hoppers.     They  are  fed,  too, 


112  EGG  MONEY 

a  mash  of  corn  meal  and  bran  which  sometimes  contains 
boiled  vegetables.  This  is  mixed  at  night  if  it  is  to  be  fed 
in  the  morning  or  mixed  in  the  morning  if  to  be  fed  at  night. 
Two  trips  a  day  are  generally  made  by  the  feeder.  In  the 
morning  the  hens  are  fed  mash,  or  given  a  little  barley  or 
wheat  to  scratch  for,  and  watered.  At  night  when  the  eggs 
are  collected,  mash  or  scratch  feed  is  given,  according  to 
whether  or  not  mash  was  fed  in  the  morning,  and  in  freezing 
weather  the  water  buckets  are  emptied. 

Incubating  and  Brooding  Done  By  Hens. 

The  incubator  agent  has  not  invaded  this  section,  or 
must  have  been  repulsed  if  he  has,  for  the  old  hen  seems  to 
be  good  enough  for  these  poultry  men.  Two  or  three 
thousand  chicks  are  raised  on  several  of  these  farms,  but  the 
natural  method  holds  sway.  The  hens  are  usually  set  in 
a  house  or  barn  fitted  up  for  the  purpose.  They  are  fas- 
tened on  the  nests  and  let  off  at  a  certain  time  each  day. 
The  nests  are  usually  arranged  in  rows  and  tiers. 

The  hen  and  her  brood  usually  occupy  a  small  separate 
coop  of  simple  design  and  often  crude.  The  accompanying 
photographs  show  instances  of  the  very  primitive  construc- 
tion found  here.  The  hen  is  confined  to  these  coops.  The 
chickens  run  during  the  day,  but  are  confined  during  the 
night  as  a  precaution.  The  small  chickens  are  usually 
put  near  to  the  farm  buildings  where  it  is  convenient  to  feed 
them  several  times  a  day.  The  method  of  feeding  is  the 
old  one;  mash  that  has  cooked  over  night  in  the  morning 
and  broken  grains  three  or  four  times  during  the  rest  of  the 
day.  Of  late  the  prepared  dry  chick  feeds  are  used  some- 
what. 

Cracked  Corn  a  Staple  Food. 

The  larger  chicks  are  moved  farther  away  where  they 
get  splendid  range.  Their  houses  are  of  the  box-hke  type, 
usually  about  six  feet  square  and  from  four  to  seven  feet 
high.  These  chicks  are  fed  mash  in  the  morning  when 
released  from  the  coops  and  have  hoppers  of  cracked  corn 
always  before  them.  Beef  scraps  are  fed  in  limited  quanti- 
ties, usually  mixed  with  the  mash  of  corn  meal  and  bran. 


RHODE  ISLAND  EGG  FARMING 


113 


By  this  method  the  larger  chicks  feed  themselves  with  the 
exception  of  the  morning  mash.  At  this  time  they  are  also 
watered  unless  there  is  running  water  in  the  fields  in  which 
they  range. 

These  methods  read  as  though  devised  by  the  king  of  lazy 
men.  As  little  work  as  possible  is  put  into  ''keeping  hens, " 
but  those  people  make  up  by  keeping  a  large  number. 
The  regular  routine  work  on  a  large  hen  plant  at  certain  sea- 
sons of  the  year  is  done  by  one  man  before  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning  and  after  four  in  the  afternoon. 

One  Dollar  per  Hen  Profit. 

These  poultrymen  do  not  expect  to  realize  over  one  dollar 
a  year  per  hen  and  probably  not  that.  They  believe  that 
there  is  more  money  in  keeping  a  large  number  in  this  rough 
fashion  than  in  ''fussing"  with  a  less  number.  It  is  plain 
to  be  seen  that  if  a  man  keeps  two  thousand  hens  and  real- 
izes seventy-five  cents  to  one  dollar  each,  he  can  live 
comfortably,  and  these  people  do  live  comfortably.  Crude 
as  are  the  buildings  for  the  live  stock,  the  dwelling  houses 
are  neat  and  attractive. 


A  SUMMER  EGG  FARM. 

A  Poultry  Business  That  Requires  No  Houses  and  Rears 

No    Chickens,    Yet    Pays    a    Generous    Profit 

Six  Months  of  Every  Year. 

By  R.  G.  Williams. 

A  poultry  business  which  is  continued  year  after  year 
and  yields  a  satisfactory  profit,  yet  requires  no  permanent 
houses,  yards,  or  expensive  equipment,  is  a  novelty  to 
most  poultrymen.  Y^et  such  a  business  is  in  operation  at 
Amherst,  Massachusetts,  and  the  owner  clears  as  much 
money  on  it  during  warm  weather  as  many  poultrymen 
having  more  expensive  plants  make  in  a  full  year,  and  has 
his  winters  to  devote  to  other  pursuits. 

The  best  of  it  is  that  the  same  scheme  can  be  operated 
successfully  anywhere  in  the  temperate  zone,  where  any 
other  branch  of  the  poultry  business  can  be  carried  on  suc- 
cessfully. 

The  village  poultryman  with  an  acre  of  ground  can, 
by  this  m.ethod,  handle  as  many  fowls  during  the  sum- 
mer as  his  co-workers  with  more  land  can  keep  at  a  profit 
in  the  usual  manner. 

The  Equipment  Required. 

There  is  absolutely  nothing  in  the  way  of  accommo- 
dations that  can  be  called  a  poultry  house.  The  fowls  are 
quartered  in  yards  12x6  feet  on  the  ground  and  two  feet 
high,  framed  of  inch  pine  lumber,  three  inches  wide,  and 
covered  on  the  sides  and  half  of  the  top  with  two  inch 
mesh  wire  netting.  Upon  that  part  of  the  top  not  covered 
by  wire,  a  space  6x6  extending  across  one  end  of  the 
yard,  is  placed  a  large  ^'A"  coop  which  covers  it  with  the 
exception  of  a  small  space.  This  space  is  provided  with 
a  lid,  through  which  the  attendant  can  reach  into  the  coop 
for  various  purposes.      The  roost  is  placed  level  with  the 


116  EGG  MONEY 

top  of  the  yard  and  directly  under  and  parallel  to  the  peak 
of  the  coop. 

Each  yard  contains  a  nest-box,  having  three  or  four 
compartments.  This  is  placed  under  the  coop  and  close 
against  the  side  of  the  yard  which  is  provided  with  a  door 
through  which  the  attendant  reaches  the  nests  to  collect 
the  eggs.  A  feed  trough  and  water  fountain,  or  dish^ 
completes  the  equipment,  the  total  cost  of  which  need  not 
exceed  $2.50,  labor  included.  If  properly  made  and  painted 
it  will  last  several  years.  Some  years  ago  cotton  cloth, 
both  oiled  and  not  oiled,  was  tried  for  covering  shelters, 
but  it  was  not  found  to  be  practical  and  all  coops  are  now 
made  of  pine. 

Each  of  these  yards  with  its  accompanying  coop  is 
intended  to  accommodate  ten  to  twelve  birds  and  is  moved 
to  a  fresh  spot  once  a  week.  By  the  time  that  the  fourth 
move  has  been  made  the  spot  first  occupied  is  ready  to 
be  used  again. 

How  the  Stock  is  Secured. 

When  the  price  of  eggs  begins  to  drop  as  the  weather 
opens  in  the  spring  most  of  the  New  England  farmers  are 
willing  to  dispose  of  their  flocks  at  any  reasonable  prices. 
These  fowls  are  what  the  summer  poultry  man  wants  and 
he  sends  men  with  wagon-loads  of  coops  out  to  collect 
them,  paying  the  going  market  price  per  pound.  Many 
of  these  fowls  are  from  late  hatches  of  the  preceding  sea- 
son and  make  good  layers  during  the  summer  months.  A 
majority  of  them  are  thin  in  flesh,  so  that  hens  capable 
of  carrying  a  generous  amount  of  meat  when  fat,  are  secured 
for  the  price  of  small  ones.  The  buyer  prefers  thin  fleshed 
to  fat  specimens  for  the  former  are  more  readily  put  in  lay- 
ing condition  and  are  capable  of  turning  a  greater  profit 
w^hen  dressed  and  sold  at  the  end  of  the  season.  When 
the  spring  is  so  far  advanced  that  the  fowls  can  be  com- 
fortable in  these  accommodations,  each  yard,  or  pen,  is  given 
its  dozen  birds  and  the  season's  work  begins  in  earnest. 

How  the  Income  is  Obtained. 

The  majority  of  farmers'  hens  are  lousy  and  the  first 
important   move  after  the  fowls   are  brought  in  is  to  rid 


A  SUMMER  EGG  FARM 


117 


them  of  vermin.  Occasional  treatment  for  lice  during  the 
summer  is  essential,  for  a  lousy  hen  is  not  as  productive 
nor  can  she  be  supported  at  the  same  cost  for  food.  The 
foods  and  manner  of  feeding  do  not  differ  materially  from 
those  used  on  the  majority  of  up-to-date  poultry  plants. 
Wheat,  oats  and  a  little  corn  are  fed  dry  during  the  sum- 
mer and  the  proportion  of  corn  is  increased  as  fall  ap- 
proaches.    From  a  creamery  near  by  curds  and  skim  milk 


Some  of  the  Coops  and  Yards  Used  on  the  Summer  Egg  Farm  Describ- 
ed by  R.  G.  William-s. 

are  obtained  which  furnish  sufficient  animal  food  when  the 
supply  is  adequate.  At  other  times  beef  scraps  are  sup- 
plied. It  is  understood  that  fresh  water,  grit,  charcoal  and 
oyster  shells  are  always  before  each  flock.  From  these 
fowls  a  Hberal  egg  yield  is  obtained  all  summer  and  the 
product  is  sorted  and  shipped  to  New  Haven,  Conn.,  where 
an  average  of  30  cents  a  dozen  is  received.  When  the 
writer  visited  the  plant  about  September  first,  the  price 
received  was  32  cents. 

In  the  fall  when  the  price  is  up  and  just  before  the 
hens  begin  to  molt,  selling  is  begun,  and  before  the  weather 
becomes  too  cold  for  the  fowls  to  stay  in  the  coops  the 
last  one  has  been  shipped  and  the  season's  profits  counted. 
A  few  are  sold  alive,  but  the  bulk  are  dressed  and  shipped 
wherever  the  best  prices  can  be  obtained. 


118  EGG  MONEY 

The  fowls  used  in  this  business  are  of  all  varieties  but 
Mr.  Fred  Fuller,  the  superintendent,  believes  that  results 
would  be  better  if  only  one  or  two  varieties  of  pure-bred  stock 
were  kept.  He  is  tempted  to  raise  a  few  hundred  pullets 
each  year  from  good  laying  stock  and  keep  them  over  for 
the  experiment.  He  prefers  White  Leghorns  where  eggs 
are  the  sole  object,  but  pins  his  faith  to  Plymouth  Rocks  or 
Wyandottes  where  the  sale  of  the  fowl  is  also  considered. 
Mr.  Fuller  says  that  a  good  man  can  care  for  2,000  or  more 
fowls  penned  in  this  manner. 

The  sale  of  eggs  is  expected  to  pay  the  cost  of  main- 
taining the  fowls  and  plant,  and  the  profit  is  derived  from 
the  advance  in  the  price  received  for  the  fowls  over  that 
paid  for  them  in  the  spring.  If  the  stock  is  properly  fat- 
tened when  sold  the  gain  is  considerable. 

The  Possibilities  of  the  Business. 

To  any  one  interested  in  practical  poultry  work,  this 
scheme  presents  attractive  possibilities  and  to  those  who, 
from  inclination  or  necessity,  devote  their  winters  to  other 
pursuits  but  desire  to  follow  some  such  line  during  the 
summer,  it  should  prove  both  interesting  and  profitable. 
The  capital  required  is  less  than  that  required  to  estab- 
lish almost  any  agricultural  business  that  will  require  a 
person's  entire  time  for  its  operation  and  pay  him  as  good 
returns  for  his  labor.  Substantial  accommodations  for 
1,000  hens  can  be  built  for  $250.00  or  less,  and  the  fowls 
themselves,  if  well  bought,  should  not  cost  more  than  $500.00. 
The  eggs  should  pay  for  the  supplies  almost  from  the  start 
and  also  pay  the  care-taker  a  fair  price  for  his  labor. 

Prices  for  dressed  poultry  of  good  quality  are  always 
higher  in  the  fall  than  in  the  spring  and  there  should  be 
no  difficulty  in  increasing  the  average  weight  of  the  fowls 
at  least  one  pound.  If  that  pound  of  meat  sold  for  14 
cents  the  profit  on  1,000  hens  would  be  $140.00,  or  eighteea 
per  cent  for  six  months  on  money  invested. 


MARKETING  EGGS. 


Upon  the  Sale  of  the    Products  Depend  the  Profits — Whole* 

sale  Versus   Retail   Markets — Advantages  and   Disad= 

vantages  of  the  "Private  Trade" — Selecting 

and  Shipping  Eggs. 

By  H.  A.  Nourse. 

The  profits  of  the  egg  business  depend  finally  on  the 
success  of  the  owner  or  manager  as  a  salesman.  The 
ability  to  so  manage  the  plant  and  handle  the  flock  that 
eggs  will  be  produced  in  liberal  numbers,  does  not  always 
assure  the  success  of  the  undertaking.  These  eggs  must  be 
turned  into  money  and  although  there  is  always  a  demand  for 
eggs  the  amount  of  money  received  depends  upon  the  time, 
place  and  manner  of  disposing  of  them. 

Although  an  extra  four  cents  on  the  price  of  a  single 
dozen  of  eggs  is  not  so  material,  the  difference  counts  up 
rapidly  as  the  dozens  multiply.  From  one  hundred  dozen, 
for  example,  the  additional  revenue  would  be  $4.00  or 
enough  to  pay  for  the  feed  of  four  hens  twelve  months. 
Four  cents  a  dozen,  however,  is  not  by  any  means  the  limit 
of  difference  between  the  price  received  by  good  marketing 
and  that  obtained  by  the  opposite.  It  is  by  no  means  un- 
common for  a  premium  of  ten  cents  per  dozen  over  the 
regular  market  quotations  to  be  paid,  month  in  and  month 
out,  for  selected  stock.  Numerous  cases  are  on  record,  also, 
of  a  fixed  price  of  fifty  cents  per  dozen  being  paid  throughout 
the  year,  though  eggs  sold  for  eleven  to  forty  cents  in  the 
open  markets  of  the  same  city.  These  are,  of  course, 
extreme  cases  and  these  prices  are  obtained  by  catering 
to  a  particular  trade,  with  a  fine  grade  of  table  eggs. 

It  is  frequently  stated  that  ''quality,"  if  sufficiently 
high,  will  always  find  a  market  at  advanced  prices,  but  this 
does  not  by  any  means  hold  true  in  the  egg  business.  It 
is  necessary  first  to  produce  a  high  grade  of  stock  and  then 


120  EGG  MONEY 

to  find  a  market  for  it  where  the  customers  are  es|)ecially 
discriminating  and  are  willing  and  able  to  pay  a  premium 
for  indulging  this  discrimination. 

Catering  to  the  Wholesale  Trade. 

A  very  large  per  cent  of  the  eggs  which  find  their  way  to 
market  are  turned  over  by  the  producer  to  country  store 
keepers,  who  forward  them  to  the  large  cities  or  to  central 
collecting  points,  or  are  forwarded  by  the  producer  to  com- 
mission dealers  in  the  trade  centers.  This  method  of  dis- 
posing of  the  eggs,  while  it  does  not  always  prevent  a  profit 
being  made  by  the  producer,  prevents  him  from  obtaining 
a  high  price  for  his  product,  if  the  product  is  worth  it.  Yet 
this  method  of  marketing  has  its  advantages.  The  country 
storekeeper  takes  them  from  the  farmer's  baskets  and 
whenever  it  is  convenient  for  the  farmer  to  deliver  them. 
The  commission  dealer  also  takes  them  when  it  is  convenient 
for  the  producer  to  forward  them  and  returns  the  market 
price,  less  his  commission  and  the  cost  of  transportion. 
This  manner  of  disposing  of  them  involves  very  little  labor 
or  head-work  on  the  part  of  the  poultry  raiser  and  that  is 
doubtless  the  reason  why  that  manner  of  selling  is  usually 
adopted. 

Another  method  of  wholesaling,  and  one  which  insures 
better  prices  if  properly  conducted,  is  to  deliver  the  eggs 
direct  to  the  retail  merchants,  thereby  saving  the  commission 
dealers'  and  storekeepers'  profits.  To  do  this  successfully 
it  is  necessary  first  to  locate  a  dealer  who  has  the  patronage 
of  discriminating  buyers,  families  who  demand  a  good  article 
and  are  willing  to  pay  for  it.  To  supply  this  trade  satisfac- 
torily, the  dealer  must  obtain  eggs  which  he  may  depend 
upon  and  be  able  to  guarantee.  Such  eggs  can  seldom  be 
obtained  from  the  regular  wholesalers  and  he  is  obliged  to 
look  to  the  producer  for  his  supply.  This,  however,  places 
additional  responsibility  upon  the  producer;  he  receives  high- 
er prices  and  he  must  deliver  a  high  grade  of  eggs.  In  some 
cases,  too,  it  is  necessary  that  the  producer  be  able  to  deliver 
a  certain  number  at  regular  intervals  throughout  the  year 
for  the  dealer  has  certain  customers  who  require  a  steady 
supply  in  all  seasons.      To  furnish  this  the  producer  ought 


MARKETING  EGGS  121 

to  have  two  sets  of  fowls^  one  flock  of  early  molters  and 
one  of  late  molters. 

The  choice  between  the  methods  of  wholesaling  depends 
largely  on  the  time  that  the  producer  can  give  to  the  business. 
If  he  is  prepared  to  cater  to  the  higher  class,  the  advance 
in  price  will  usually  be  sufficient  to  a  little  more  than  pay 
for  the  extra  labor  involved.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
is  not  able  to  fulfill  these  conditions,  but  finds  it  more  desir- 
able to  produce  the  eggs  as  cheaply  as  possible  and  to  get 
them  oft  his  hands  with  the  least  expenditure  of  time 
and  labor,  on  account  of  other  business,  then  the  method 
of  shipping  to  commission  dealers  or  selling  to  country 
storekeepers  may  prove  more  profitable.  It  is  true,  also, 
that  when  a  specialty  is  made  of  producing  eggs  during 
the  season  of  high  prices,  w^hich  is  during  the  months  of 
November,  December,  January  and  February,  it  does  not 
pay  the  consumer  to  bind  himself  by  any  bargain  to  fur- 
nish eggs  the  year  around  at  a  certain  price,  or  to  furnish 
so  many  eggs  each  day  or  each  week,  because  in  the  very 
season  he  intends  to  produce  the  greatest  number  the 
highest  prices  will  be  paid  and  the  demand  is  such  that  it 
is  by  no  means  difficult  to  find  a  purchaser. 

Supplying  a  Retail  Trade. 

The  retail  trade,  or  the  business  of  selling  direct  to  the 
consumer,  has  not  yet  assumed  any  considerable  magnitude 
when  considered  as  a  part  of  the  entire  poultry  business. 
The  consumers  in  this  trade  may  be  divided  into  three  classes; 
hotels,  clubs  and  private  families.  Only  the  high-class 
and  most  expensive  hotels  buy  high  priced  eggs,  but  they 
take  them  in  large  numbers  and  pay  good  prices. 

Several  poultry  men  in  the  state  of  New  York  have  de- 
rived the  main  part  of  their  revenue  for  years  from  the  sale 
of  eggs  to  the  metropolis'  finest  hostelries. 

Clubs  which  are  maintained  by  the  wealthy  are  good  buy- 
ers of  eggs  which  they  know  they  can  rely  on.  Of  the  three 
classes,  however,  the  best  paying  and  probably  the  most 
troublesome  is  the  family  trade.  In  catering  to  hotels 
and  clubs  it  is  sometimes  considered  necessary  to  divide 
the  profits  with  the  one  who  does  the  buying,  but  these  pur- 


122  EGG  MONEY 

chasers  are  as  a  rule  less  difficult  to  contend  with  than  the 
cook  or  butler  of  the  private  family.  The  latter  always 
have  their  friends  among  the  grocer's  clerks  and  butcher's 
boys  and  since  many  of  them  also  derive  a  pecuniary  benefit 
from  the  trade  they  give  to  certain  stores  and  meat  shops^ 
they  are  always  glad  to  turn  any  cause  for  dissatisfaction 
toward  the  poultryman  and  to  shield  his  competitors. 
The  trade  of  the  individual  family  at  best  is  not  sufficient 
to  warrant  the  egg  man  in  paying  these  servants  a  sum  suffi- 
cient to  procure  their  good  will.  Of  course  these  undesirable 
influences  are  not  always  to  be  contended  with  and  in  spite 
of  those  that  exist  poultrymen  are  doing  a  lucrative  business 
with  hotels,  clubs  and  families,  glad  to  tolerate  the  petty 
dissatisfactions  while  pocketing  the  additional  profits. 

The  first  two  classes  are  rather  easier  to  cater  to  since 
eggs  are  delivered  in  greater  numbers,  one  club  or  hotel 
often  taking  all  the  producer  has,  and  most  of  the  eggs 
are  shipped  by  express  from  consignor  to  consignee. 

The  trade  of  each  family  is  small — comparatively.  A 
few  dozen  here  and  a  few  dozen  there  require  the  services 
of  a  man  and  team  for  half  a  day,  two,  three  or  more  times 
each  week.  Occasionally  the  egg  farmer  finds  it  advisa- 
able  to  take  orders  on  certain  days  of  each  week  and  deliver 
on  the  day  following.  The  prices  obtained  are  as  a  rule 
well  above  the  figures  quoted  in  the  retail  stores  and  markets. 
As  we  stated  before,  fifty  cents  per  dozen  is  frequently  paid 
the  year  around  and  at  this  price  the  poultryman  can  well 
afford  to  shoulder  considerable  extra  expense  and  trouble. 

We  have  described  the  various  methods  of  disposing  of 
the  egg  farmer's  product  and  endeavored  to  explain  the 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  each  in  such  a  way  that 
the  reader,  after  investigating  the  conditions  surrounding 
him,  will  be  prepared  to  decide  intelligently  which  method 
will  prove  most  satisfactory  and  profitable  for  him  to 
adopt. 

What  High  Quality  Means. 

To  the  average  person  a  good  egg  means  a  fresh  egg  and 
vice  versa,  yet  it  is  possible  for  an  egg  to  be  fresh,  i,  e., 
recently  laid,  and  still  be  of  poor  quality.      Before  an  egg 


MARKETING  EGGS 


12a 


is  entitled  to  classification  as  A  1  it  must  be  uniform  ia 
shape,  size  and  color  with  its  mates,  clean,  and  with  its 
contents  good.  Uniformity,  cleanliness,  size,  shape  and 
color  are  attributes  which  assist  in  its  sale  by  pleasing  the 
eye.  The  contents  of  the  shell,  however,  is  what  people 
pay  the  price  for  and   it   varies   considerably. 

An  egg  less  than  twenty-four  hours  old  may  not  be  very 


Cases  of  Strictly   Fresh   ih^^s   i^eady  to  be  Forwarded  to  Commission 
Houses,  Retailers,  Hotels  or  Clubs. 


valuable  as  food.  Its  yoke  may  be  unstable  and  pale  in 
color,  the  white  may  be  watery.  In  the  perfect  egg,  the 
yoke  is  comparatively  firm  within  its  sack  and  the  white 
sets  solidly  around  it,  both  filling  the  shell  very  nearly 
full,  leaving  the  air  cell  at  the  large  end  of  the  egg  decidedly 
small.  This  is  the  product  of  the  healthy  hen,  well  fed 
and  kept  in  clean  quarters. 

As  good  feeding  (we  mean  correct  feeding)  and  clean 
quarters  are  required  for  the  health  of  the  hen,  the  entire 
matter  depends  on  feeding  and  care,  subjects  which  have 
been  fully  treated  in  previous   chapters.      Uniformity  in. 


124  EGG  MONEY 

shape,  size  and  color  is  obtained  by  building  a  strain  of  fowls 
with  this  end  in  view.  Cleanliness  is  simply  a  matter  of 
keeping  the  nests  where  the  eggs  are  laid  thoroughly  clean. 
Washed  eggs  are  not  to  be  rated  as  A  1.  Washing  destroys 
the  fresh  appearance  of  the  shell  and,  by  removing  a  certain 
glutinous  substance  from  the  outside  of  the  shell,  detracts 
from  its  keeping  qualities. 

Grading  and  Shipping. 

Whether  eggs  are  marketed  wholesale  or  retail,  through 
commission  merchants  or  to  hotels  or  private  families,  the 
rules  for  selecting,  grading  and  shipping  have  the  same 
application.  Understanding  that  all  the  eggs  are  fresh, 
as  they  should  be  when  they  leave  the  plant  of  the  producer, 
the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  sort  them  according  to  size  and 
color.  Small  eggs  and  extremely  large  ones  should  be  count- 
ed out  and  white  eggs  should  be  separated  from  brown  ones. 
This  will  give  us  four  divisions;  white  eggs  that  are  off  in  size 
and  brown  eggs  that  are  off  in  size,  uniform  white  eggs  and 
uniform  brown  eggs.  The  latter  two  divisions  are  the  ones 
to  be  sold  under  the  producer's  mark  and  guarantee.  The 
others  must  be  sold  as  ''seconds"  and  will  not  suit  the  more 
particular  trade. 

As  an  extra  precaution  some  shippers  candle  all  eggs 
before  sending  them  out,  even  when  there  seems  to  be  no 
chance  for  any  egg  to  be  over  twenty-four  hours  old.  This 
is  to  guard  against  the  distribution  of  any  eggs  which  are  not 
correct  as  to  contents,  for  example  those  that  may  not  be 
of  the  proper  consistency,  those  not  full,  or  those  with 
blood  spots.  This  candling,  or  testing,  is  done  only  when 
the  eggs  are  to  be  forwarded  to  a  high-class  customer.  Con- 
signments forwarded  to  commission  merchants  or  to  retail 
establishments  usually  go  forward  in  ordinary  egg  cases 
which  are  not  expensive,  though  occasionally  the  shipper 
uses  more  substantial  and  attractive  cases  bearing 
his  name.  These  are  returned  to  him  when  empty,  the  ex- 
press companies  returning  them  free  or  charging  him  a 
nominal   fee. 

Eggs  forwarded  to  hotels  or  clubs  usually  go  forward  in 
better  cases.      Sometimes  in  addition  they  are  packed  in 


MARKETING  EGGS  125 

dozen  lots  in  pasteboard  boxes  which  are  inclosed  in  wooden 
cases  of  special  design.  The  object  of  these  special  cases  is 
to  deliver  the  eggs  in  good  and  attractive  condition  when- 
ever a  higher  price  may  be  obtained  by  so  doing.  It  is 
not  our  intention  to  describe  the  different  cases  in  use,  for 
most  of  them  are  for  sale  by  poultry  supply  dealers  and 
descriptions  may  be  found  in  their  catalogues. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  business  of  grading  and  shipping 


VViiiLci-  QUctiicic  lui-  a  raim   i-luL;k.    tJuilt  Almost   Entirely   of   Straw, 
Baled  or  Loose. 


consists  principally  in  so  grading  the  stock  that  it  shall 
be  most  attractive  and  thereby  command  the  highest  price, 
and  in  so  shipping  it  that  it  will  arrive  safely,  secure  from 
substitution  and  in  the  sort  of  cases  that  will  serve  to  recom- 
mend the  quality  of  the  contents.  These  are  matters  which 
cannot  be  profitably  neglected.  Careless  sorting  or  grad- 
ing is  always  accompanied  by  a  loss  in  price,  for  a  mixed 
lot  of  eggs  usually  takes  the  price  of  the  lowest  grade  repre- 
sented. Carelessness  in  shipping,  as  well  as  the  use  of 
unattractive  cases,  will  not  serve  as  a  recommendation  of 
the  eggs  nor  of  the  shipper  as  a  man  to  do  business  with. 


ADVERTISING  TABLE  EGGS. 

The  Producers,  Who  Hitherto  Have  Left  Advertising  to  the 

Retailers,  Are  Beginning  to  Find  That 

Publicity  Pays. 

By  H.  A.  Nourse. 

Until  very  recently  the  only  desirable  publicity  that 
market  eggs  received  was  in  the  more  or  less  spacious  ad- 
vertising of  the  retail  grocer,  who  seemed  prone  to  regard 
all  eggs  as  ^' fresh"  until  they  were  proven  otherwise.  Now 
the  producer,  whether  he  is  a  village  poultryman  or  an 
exclusive  egg  farmer,  is  beginning  to  take  the  egg  adver- 
tising in  his  own  hands.  This  is  noticeable  in  the  case  of 
those  producers  who  retail  their  eggs  direct  to  the  consumer, 
or  who  furnish  retail  dealers  with  eggs  branded  with  their 
name  and  guarantee. 

The  Manner  of  Advertising. 

It  may  be  supposed  that  this  advertising  would  be  done 
in  the  papers  circulating  in  the  towns  and  cities  where 
the  producer's  product  is  to  be  sold;  but  it  seems  that  only  a 
small  part  of  the  advertising  is  placed  in  periodicals.  The 
greater  part  of  it  is  done  by  means  of  circulars.  The 
advertiser  secures  a  list  of  persons  whom  he  considers  most 
likely  to  become  customers  and  mails  them  his  card  or  circu- 
lars, rather  than  take  the  chance  of  their  seeing  his  ad  in 
the  crowded  columns  of  the  newspaper  and  rather  than  pay 
to  have  his  ad  placed  before  the  people  of  the  town  as  a 
whole,  95  per  cent  of*whom  he  is  positive  would  never  be 
induced  to  pay  an  extra  price  for  eggs  of  the  better  quality. 
That  extra  price  is  what  the  advertiser  is  after. 

Points  to  Bring  Out. 

To  sell  his  product  at  five,  ten  or  more  cents  a  dozen  in 
excess  of  the  price  named  for  so-called  fresh  eggs  by  the 


ADVERTISING  TABLE  EGGS  127 

average  retailer,  the  producer  must  convince  the  prospec- 
tive buyer  that  the  eggs  he  is  prepared  to  furnish  are  really 
worth  the  price  asked  for  them.  In  other  words  the  con- 
sumer must  be  educated.  He  must  be  taught  that  a  fresh 
egg  is  not  simply  an  egg  that  is  not  stale,  but  one  that  has 
been  laid  within  forty-eight  hours  before  it  reached  his 
kitchen.  He  must  be  told  that  all  fresh  eggs  are  not  neces- 
sarily of  good  quality.  He  must  be  influenced  to  prefer 
large  eggs  to  small  ones  and  clean  ones  to  the  other  kind, 
since  large  ones  will  go  farther  when  used  for  cooking  and 
clean  ones  are  more  healthful. 

The  bright  advertiser  knows  that  these  things  are  true  and 
makes  the  most  of  them.  He  guarantees  that  all  eggs  shall 
be  delivered  within  a  certain  number  of  hours  after  they  are 
collected  from  the  nests.  He  guarantees  that  the  food 
given  the  hens  and  the  conditions  surrounding  them  are 
healthful  and  calculated  to  enable  them  to  produce  eggs  of 
good  body  and  fine  flavor.  He  assures  the  purchaser  that 
they  will  weigh  so  much  to  the  dozen  and  that  they  are  clean 
always,  because  their  surroundings  are  sanitary.  Occasion- 
ally he  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  ordinary  egg  of 
commerce  is  a  decided  uncertainty  and  that  no  one  knows 
under  what  conditions  it  was  produced  or  what  sort  of  food 
the  fowl  that  produced  it  consumed.  All  these  are  points 
which  appeal  to  the  lover  of  good  eggs  who  can  afford  to 
encourage  a  fastidious  taste.  These  points  are  Hsually 
brought  out  in  circulars,  but  the  advertiser  in  the  local  papers 
cannot  go  so  much  into  the  small  points. 

When  Newspaper  Space  is  Used. 

The  poultryman  who  produces  eggs  in  comparatively 
large  numbers  and  turns  them  over  to  retailers  to  sell  for 
him  after  marking  them  with  his  name  and  protecting 
them  with  his  guaranty,  usually  prefers  to  do  his  advertis- 
ing in  the  newspapers.  He  usually  runs  a  card  once  or 
twice  a  week  in  the  daily  papers  or  in  each  issue  of  the  week- 
lies. In  this  space  he  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  eggs 
l^earing  his  trade  mark  and  dated  (either  on  the  egg  itself 
or  on  the  carton  in  which  it  is  delivered)  are  for  sale  by  cer- 
tain dealers,  and  are  guaranteed  by  him  to  be  of  high  quality 


128 


EGG  MONEY 


Sometimes  instead  of  running  a  separate  advertisement, 
the  producer  pays  his  retailers  a  certain  amount  to  insert 
certain  copy  regarding  his  eggs  in  their  ads  at  certain  inter- 
vals. 

Does  Advertising  Pay? 

Whether  or  not  this  pays,  and  how  well  it  pays,  depends 
upon  how  well  the  advertising  is  done  and  how  well  the  adver- 
tiser is  prepared  to  supply  the  trade  he  gains  with  the  eggs 
he  advertises. 

In  almost  any  large  town  or  city,  there  are  people  who 
appreciate  and  can  afford  to  pay  for  eggs  that  are  above  the 
average  in  quality,  and,  as  a  rule,  it  is  only  necessary  to  get 
in  touch  with  these  people  and  prove  to  them  that  you  have 
that  which  they  are  willing  to  pay  for,  to  work  up  a  consider- 
able trade.  If  one  sells  only  a  limited  number  of  dozens 
each  week  an  increase  of  ten  cents  per  dozen  will  pay  for 
quite  a  little  advertising,  and  a  customer  once  gained  and 
properly  treated,  is  usually  kept. 


POULTRY  HOUSES, 

COOPS  AND  EQVIPMENT. 

The  latest,  most  practical  and  best 
book  on  the  eubfect. 

It  plainly  describes  and  illustrates  the  most  modem, 
satisfactory  methods  of  building  large  and  small  houses, 
all  kinds  of  practical,  labor-saving  poultry  house  fix- 
tures and  poultry  keepers!  utensils,  including: 

General  Construction,  Foundations,  Frames,  Roofs,  Sides* 
Floors,  Colony  Houses,  Continuous  Houses,  Curtain  Front  Houses, 
Scratching  Houses,  Boosting  Coops,  Brood  Coops,  Roosts,  Nests, 
Ventilators,  Exhibition  Coops,  Shipping  Coops,  Drinking  Foun- 
tains, etc. 

Every  plan  -n  this  book  has  been  tried  and  fotmd  satisfactory  by  successful 
poultrymen.  Most  of  the  houses  described  are  simple,  easy  and  cheap  to  build,  but 
complete  in  detail  and  the  best  known.  The  poultry  farmer  and  eity  lot  poultry 
keeper,  the  one  who  keeps  exhibition  or  market  fowls,  for  pleasure,  profit,  or  both, 
north  or  south,  will  find  the  plan  he  needs  in  this  book;  It  contains  96  good  sized 
pages  and  93  illustrations.  Price  25  cents,  postpaid.        Address 

WEBB  PUBLISHING  CO.,         ST.  PAVL,  MINN. 


I  THREE  PRACTICAL  BOOKS 

t 

♦ 


THE  GOLD  MINE  IN  THE  FRONT  YARD,  by   C.  S.  Harrison,  A   book 

about  flowers,  both  for  ornamentation  and  commercial  culture,  written  with 
special  reference  to  Northwestern  conditions.  Illustrated.  Price,  12  mo. 
cloth,  280  pp.,  Sl.OO. 

AMATEUR  FRUIT  GROWING,  by  Samuel  B.  Green,  a  practical  guide  to  the 
growing  of  fruit  for  home  use  and  the  market,  written  with  special  reference 
to  a  cold  climate.  Illustrated.  Price,  12  mo.cloth,  134  pp.,5.50'paper,25c, 

VEGETABLE  GARDENING,  by  Samuel  B.  Green.  7th  edition.  A  manual  on 
the  growing  of  vegetables  for  home  use  and  the  market,  indispensable  to 
Farmers  and  Gardeners  everywhere.  Profusely  illustrated.  Price,  12  mo. 
cloth,  252  pp.,  SI .00;  paper,  fiO  cents. 

WEBB  PUBLISHING  CO,.         ST.  PAUL.  MINNESOTA 


::  STANDARD  AGRICULTURAL  BOOKS 

I;      Publuhedby  WEBB  PUBLISHING  C6MPANY,  St  Paul,  Minn. 


I 


AMATEUR  FRUIT  OROWINQ.  by  Samuel 
B.  Green,  a  practical  guide  to  the  growing  of 
fruit  for  home  use  and  the  market,  written 
with  special  reference  to  a  cold  climate.  Il- 
lustrated. Price.  IS  mo.  doth.  134  pp.« 
50  cents  paper,  25  cents. 

VEQETABLE  QARDENINQ,  by  Samuel  B. 
Green.  7th  edition.  A  manual  on  the  grow- 
ing of  vegetables  for  home  use  and  the  mar- 
ket. Profusely  illustrated.  Price,  12  mo. 
cloth,  252  pp.,  $1.00;  paper,  50  cents. 

FARM  WIND-BREAKS  AND  SHELTER 
BELTS,  by  Samuel  B.  Green.  A  manual  of 
tree  planting  for  wind-breafos  and  shelter 
with  description  of  the  most  suitable  trees 
hardy  enough  to  stand  Northwestern  con- 
ditions. Practical  cultural  directions  from 
seed  to  maturity.  Illustrated.  Price,  paper, 
69  pp.,  25  cents. 

EVERGREENS  AND  HOW  TO  GROW  THEM, 
by  C.  8.  Harrison.  A  complete  guide  to 
■election  and  growth  of  erergreens  for 
pleasure  and  profit,  from  seed  and  nursery, 
to  wlnd-breaKS,  i^nd  hedges.  Illustrated. 
Price,  12  mo.  cloth,  100  pp.,  50  cents; 
paper,  25  cents. 

THE  GOLD  MINE  IN  THE  FRONT  YARD, 
by  C.  B.  Harrison.  A  book  about  flowers, 
both  for  ornamentation  and  commercial 
culture,  written  with  special  reference  to 
Northwestern  conditions.  Illustrated. 
Price.  12  mo.  cloth.  280  pp.,  $1.00. 

THIRTY  DAIRY  RATIONS.  Thirty  com- 
plete balanced  dairy  rations:  Treats  also 
on  the  feeding  and  care  of  dairy  cows,  by 
H.  C.  Carpenter.  Illustrated.  Price,  paper, 
25  cents. 

FEEDING  AND  MANAGEMENT  OP  LIVE 
STOCK,  by  Thomas  Shaw.  A  series  of 
lectures  on  the  principles  covering  selec- 
tion, feeding,  breeding,  management  and 
marketing  of  cattle,  sheep  and  swine.  Price, 
8  mo.  cloth.  100  pp.,  $1.00;  stiff  cover,  50 
cents. 

GRASSES  AND  HOW  TO  GROW  THEM, 
by  Thomas  Shaw,  covering  name  and  char- 
acter of  all  the  principal  grasses  in  America; 
temporary  and  permanent  pastures;  meth- 
ods In  making  hav,  etc.  Illustrated.  Price, 
12  mo.  cloth,  453  pp.,  $1.50. 

WEEDS  AND  HOW  TO  ERADICATE  THEM, 
by  Thomas  Shaw,  giving  the  names  of  the 
most  troublesome  weed  pests  east  and  west 
and  successful  methods  of  destroying  them. 
Price,  16  mo.  cloth,  210  pp.,  50  cents; 
paper  25  cents. 

ELEMENTS  OF  AGRICULTURE,  by  J.  H. 
Sheppard  and  J.  C.  McDowell,  a  complete 
treatise   on   practical   arglculture  covering 

Riant  and  animal  breeding,  thoroughly  11- 
istrated.  A  complete  text-book  adopted 
In  public  and  agricultural  schools  through- 
out the  Northwest.  Price,  12  mo.  cloth 
100  pp..  $1.00. 


FIVE  HUNDRED  QUESTIONS  ANSWERED 
ABOUT  S»VINE,  l)y  L.  H.  Cooch.  This 
manual  is  practically  a  complete  veterinary 
book  for  swine  breeders.  Not  only  does  ft 
contain  answers  to  questions  concerning 
diseases  of  swine,  but  it  also  fully  and  care- 
fully compares 'the  different  breeds,  treats 
on  breeding,  feeding  and  pasturing.  The 
questions  were  asked  by  breeders  and  ans- 
swered  In  The  Farmer  from  1900  to  1807. 
Price,  paper,  25  cents. 

HOG  FACTS,  by  D.  A.  Wallace  and  H.  O. 
Tellier.  This  l)ook  was  written  to  fill  the 
need  of  the  practical  man  who  Is  looking  for 
all  the  profit  In  practical  pork  production, 
and  especially  for  the  man  who  lacks  ex- 
perience. In  It  will  be  found  a  clear  and 
concise  description  of  the  various  breeds  of  ♦ 
hogs,  a  discussion  on  the  subjects  of  select-  ▲ 
ing  and  mating,  feeding,  dipping,  and 
marketing.  In  fact.  It  is  an  all  round 
book  for  all  who  raise  the  "mortgage  lifter." 
(In  preparation.)     Price,  cloth,  tl4)0. 

HARDWOOD  LANDS,  by  D.  A.  Wallace, 
describes  the  characteristics  of  Minnesota 
and  Wisconsin  cut-over  timber  lands  hereto- 
fore overlooked  as  suitable  for  agriculture. 

N  Illustrated,     Price.  pai>er,  25  cents. 

VACANT  GOVERNMENT  LANDS,  by  Moses 
Folsom,  locates  all  government  lands  that 
can  be  secured  free  by  entry,  and  tells  how 
to  get  them.     Price,  paper,  100  pp.,  25  cents, 

THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA,  by  Moses 
Folsom.  All  about  free  govenmient  land 
in  Canada  and  how  to  get  It.  Price,  12  mo* 
cloth,  155  pp..  50  cents;  paper,  25  cents* 

THE  FARMER'S  TANNING  GUIDE,  by  G. 
E.  Stevens,  gives  all  the  quick  ways  of  tan- 
ning in  from  ten  minutes  to  six  weeks.  Also 
complete  recipes  for  making  your  own  solu- 
tions. Prepared  especially  for  farmers. 
Price,     paper,  25  cents. 

FARM  BLACKSMITHING,  a  complete  treat- 
ise on  blacksmithing  by  J.  M.  Drew,  written 
for  farmers  who  want  a  workshop  where 
they  can  profitably  spend  stormy  days.  Il- 
lustrated. Price,  12  mo.  cloth,  100  pp.,  50 
cents. 

STANDARD  BLACKSMITHING,  HORSE- 
SHOEING AND  WAGON  MAKING,  by  J. 
G.  Holmstrom,  author  of  Modern  Black- 
smithing,  gives  practical  Instructions  by  a 
successful  blacksmith.  The  latest  and  ♦ 
most  complete  book  on  the  subject  publish-  ' 
ed.  Thoroughly  illustrated.  Price,  12  mo. 
cloth,  $1.00. 

THE  COUNTRY  KITCHEN.  Nine  hundred 
tried  and  tested  recipes  suited  to  the  country 
and  contributed  by  readers  of  the  Farmer. 
The  most  popular  and  practical  cook  book 
on  the  market  Price,  12  mo.  cloth,  154  pp., 
50  cents;  paper,  25  cents. 


All  above  books  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  price.        We  can  furnish  any  ^ 
agricultural  book  published  at  lowest  advertised  price.    Send  all  orders  to  ♦ 

WEBB  PUBLISHING  CO.,  ST.  PAUL,  MINN.  | 


